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).
Shelton is the first American man to win the Canada Masters 1000 title since Andy Roddick in 2003 in Montreal, according to ESPN Research.
Shelton, seeded fourth in the hard-court event, had 16 aces in the final. The 22-year-old is the youngest American to win any Masters 1000 title since 21-year-old Andy Roddick won Miami back in 2004.
Shelton, who also won on hard courts in Tokyo in 2023 and on clay in Houston last year, will move to a career-high sixth in the world. He outlasted Khachanov a night after topping second-seeded Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 in an all-American semifinal match.
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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
