(Photo credit score: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images)
Fourth-seeded Ben Shelton rallied for the largest championship of his profession, recording a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3) win over Eleventh-seeded Karen Khachanov within the last of the National Bank Open on Thursday in Toronto.
Shelton, 22, earned his first ATP Masters 1000 title whereas turning into the youngest U.S. participant to win a Masters 1000 occasion since Andy Roddick was the champion at Miami in 2004.
‘It’s a surreal feeling,’ Shelton stated. ‘It’s been a protracted week, not a simple path to the ultimate. My finest tennis got here out when it mattered most. I used to be clutch, I persevered, I used to be resilient. All the qualities I prefer to see in myself.’
After squandering three set factors simply earlier than shedding the primary tiebreaker, Shelton received the one service break of the second set for a 5-4 lead. Khachanov had 4 break factors within the following sport however could not stage the set.
Neither participant had a break level within the third set earlier than Shelton received the primary three factors of the decisive tiebreaker and pulled away from there.
The end result will transfer Shelton as much as a profession excessive rating of sixth on the earth forward of the U.S. Open later this month.
Shelton had by no means been in a last of this magnitude beforehand, and he has by no means reached a Grand Slam last. His solely earlier match victories got here at a hard-court occasion in Tokyo in 2023 and a clay-court occasion in Houston final yr.
Shelton piled up a 16-3 edge in aces and received 80 p.c of his first-serve factors. He had extra winners than Khachanov (38-29) but in addition extra unforced errors (45-30).
Khachanov, a 29-year-old Russian, was competing in his second ATP Masters 1000 last, having received the Paris occasion in 2018. Like Shelton, he’s a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist however has but to achieve a serious last.
–Field Level Media