Taylor Fritz acknowledged the importance of nullifying Gabriel Diallo's big serves and the home crowd to reach the last 16 of the Canadian Open.
Exactly 30 days on from their five-set thriller in the second round at Wimbledon, Fritz avoided such theatrics in Toronto as he earned a 6-4 6-2 win over Diallo.
In their previous match at the All England Club, Diallo fired 26 aces, but Fritz was able to prevail 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-0) 4-6 6-3 in a gruelling three-hour and 23-minute battle.
But in Canada, the American broke to love in the opening game of the first set against the home hopeful to silence the crowd inside the Sobeys Stadium.
Fritz then built on that advantage by overpowering Diallo in the second, saving the only break point he faced as he sealed the win when his opponent found the net.
The second seed set up a fourth-round clash with Jiri Lehecka after he beat Arthur Fils of France 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
"I thought it was really important to not let him get back in. [If] he gets a break, he gets fired up with the crowd, momentum kind of shifts," Fritz said.
"I felt like a lot could have changed if I let up on a service game.
"Even the games that I didn't serve my best in, I felt like I backed it up really well from the baseline, so I'm happy with that."
In the later match, Ben Shelton remained unbeaten against Brandon Nakashima, yet needed a gutsy 6-7 (8-10), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) triumph to advance to the next round.
Shelton needed five match points to clinch the victory against his compatriot in an enthralling two-hour and 36-minute encounter.
The fourth seed squandered two consecutive match points against the serve at 5-4 in the decider, winning the match with a fierce ace that Nakashima failed to return.
"It was back and forth," Shelton said. "There were a lot of huge moments, like being able to break back after getting broken in my first service game of the third set.
"I feel like I showed a lot of perseverance tonight."
Data Debrief: Fritz and Shelton keep the American Dream alive
While Fritz and Shelton enjoyed contrasting victories on their way to the fourth round of the tournament, the pair are edging closer to ending a 12-year wait for an American champion at the Canadian Open.
Indeed, the last player from the United States to win the competition was Andy Roddick in 2003. Fritz's win also saw him go within one win of completing the set of quarter-finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.
But Shelton will also have his say. Into the fourth round of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the second time this season, he is now one win away from claiming his 100th tour-level triumph. He will look to accomplish that feat against Flavio Cobolli.
