TORONTO: Ben Shelton won the National Bank Open on Thursday night for the third and biggest title of his young career, 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.
"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.
"I feel like it was a perfect storm for me this week," Shelton said. "A lot of tight matches and long matches. I played some of the best tennis that I've played this year."
The winner had seven of his 16 aces in the third set, and ended the match by winning 14 consecutive points on serve. He held at love to force the final-set tiebreaker.
"He went for his shots, trusted the work that he's put in and he executed," said Bryan Shelton, his father and coach. "Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't. But it's always nice when you can leave a tournament and hold a trophy up in your hands because it's rare."
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.
"It's a positive, a great tournament, a great run," Khachanov said. "I had some great battles and great wins against top guys."
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.