American fourth seed Ben Shelton battled back from a set down to capture his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open in Toronto on Thursday, defeating Russia’s Karen Khachanov 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(3).
The 22-year-old, currently ranked world number six, sealed the biggest title of his career in a match lasting two hours and 47 minutes. His triumph capped off a stellar week where he took down Italian 13th seed Flavio Cobolli, Australian ninth seed Alex de Minaur and American second seed Taylor Fritz en route to the final.
Shelton becomes the youngest American man to win a Masters 1000 title since Andy Roddick claimed victory in Miami in 2004. This win adds to his previous ATP titles in Tokyo (2023) and Houston (2024).
“It’s a surreal feeling,” Shelton said after the match. “It’s been a long week, not an easy path to the final. My best tennis came out when it mattered most. I was clutch, I persevered, I was resilient. All the qualities I like to see in myself.”
With the title, the Australian Open semi-finalist is set to rise to a career-high ranking of world number six.
Khachanov, the 11th seed and 2018 Paris Masters champion, looked poised for another major title after taking the opening set. He led 5-3 but Shelton fought back to break and take a 6-5 lead before errors allowed the Russian to claim the set in a tiebreak.
The second set was briefly disrupted by technical issues when players were unable to hear the electronic line calls at 2-2. After the delay, Khachanov surged to a 4-3 lead, but Shelton broke back and saved four break points to level the match.
The final set was closely contested, with both players holding serve to reach a deciding tiebreak. Shelton dominated from there, using his power game to seal the match with 16 aces and 38 winners.
“Karen was bullying me around the court,” Shelton admitted. “The way he hit his forehand, the way he was cutting off the court, it felt like I had a freight train coming at me. But I started being able to redirect, get some big shots off of my own, and flip the momentum. That was huge for me.”
Khachanov, who had stunned top seed Alexander Zverev in a gruelling semi-final, reflected on the narrow defeat. “It’s painful to lose in the final … yesterday I won 7-6 in the third. Today I lost,” he said.
“But thanks to my team for a great result here. We win and we lose together. It’s okay.”