TORONTO (AP) — 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.
“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.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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