TORONTO — Ben Shelton won the National Bank Open on Thursday night for the third and biggest title of his young career Thursday night, rallying to beat 11th -seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3).
The 22-year-old Shelton, seeded fourth, became the first American winner in the Masters 1000 hard-court event since Andy Roddick in 2003. Shelton also won on hard courts in Tokyo in 2023 and on clay in Houston last year.
Shelton is also the youngest American to win any Masters 1000 title since since Roddick won Miami in 2004 when he was age 21, according to ESPN Research.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” Shelton said. “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.”
Shelton will move up a spot to a career-high sixth in the world. He beat Khachanov a night after topping second-seeded Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 in an all-American semifinal match.
The winner had seven of his 16 aces in the third set, and ended the match by winning 14 consecutive points on serve.
The 29-year-old Khachanov has seven career victories — all on hard courts. In the semifinals, he survived a match point in another third-set tiebreaker against top-seeded Alexander Zverev.
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner — the 2023 winner in Toronto — and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz skipped the expanded event as they prepare the U.S. Open.
Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool won the all-English doubles final, saving four match points in a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 13-11 victory over Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski. The second-seeded Wimbledon champions have won 19 straight matches.
