Montreal (Canada) (AFP) – Ben Shelton backed up an ATP title for the first time in his career on Thursday, defeating Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win a second consecutive Masters 1000 trophy in Canada. Last year’s title in Toronto was matched by a 2026 winning performance in Montreal, with the American taking the honours without dropping a set on the way to his seventh career title.
Shelton joins Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal in winning back-to-back in Canada during this century. It was the first Masters final between Americans since Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish at Cincinnati 23 years ago. “To play the way that I have here, going through without dropping a set…it speaks to the work that I’ve put in and my mental toughness,” said Shelton, who will rise from 10th to sixth in the rankings.
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“I was able to focus this week, and it has not been such a straightforward season for me,” added the player who had won just a single Masters 1000 match out of five played this season before the start of Montreal. “I’m playing at the top of my limit — I’ve got no words.” The first all-American Canada final since 1995, when Andre Agassi faced Pete Sampras, began as Nakashima, beaten by Shelton in all five of their previous matches, unleashed four aces in the opening game.
Shelton needed just one break in the seventh game to win the opener and ran off five consecutive games — losing only five points — to reach a set and 1-0. He took a 6-5 lead on a pair of aces and wrapped up the win in the tie-breaker as he fired a forehand winner into the corner past Nakashima. The 87-minute victory gave Shelton his fourth title of the season, all played on different surfaces. He also won on indoor hardcourt in Dallas, clay in Munich, and grass in Stuttgart.
Shelton now heads to the ongoing Cincinnati Masters in the American Midwest riding a 12-match Canada win streak and will use the final big event before the August 30 start of the US Open to try and maintain form for the last Grand Slam of the season.
© 2024 AFP
