Ben Shelton Conquers the Canadian Masters 1000
In a night full of emotions, Ben Shelton won the National Bank Open title, achieving the most significant triumph of his young sporting career. The American tennis player demonstrated his skill on the court by defeating Karen Khachanov, eleventh seed, with scores of 6-7 (5), 6-4 and 7-6 (3).
Shelton, who was seeded fourth in this hard court tournament, displayed an impressive game, including 16 aces in the final. With this victory, the 22-year-old becomes the youngest American to win a Masters 1000 title since Andy Roddick achieved it in Miami in 2004.
This triumph represents Shelton’s third title in his career, adding to his victories in Tokyo in 2023 and in Houston last year, both on hard court and clay respectively. Thanks to this achievement, the tennis player will rise to sixth place in the world ranking, the highest of his career.
In the semifinals, Shelton defeated his compatriot Taylor Fritz with a score of 6-4, 6-3. For his part, Khachanov, 29 years old, has seven career victories, all on hard courts, and managed to reach the final after overcoming a match point in a tiebreaker of the third set against Alexander Zverev.
Jannik Sinner, winner of the tournament in Toronto in 2023, and Carlos Alcaraz, number two in the world, did not participate in this edition, focusing on their preparation for the US Open.
In the doubles final, Britons Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool prevailed in an all-British match, saving four match points to defeat Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski with a score of 6-3, 6-7 (5), 13-11. The Wimbledon champions, seeded second, had accumulated 19 consecutive victories before this final.
