TORONTO — Ben Shelton came back for a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory over Karen Khachanov on Thursday night in the men’s singles final at the National Bank Open.
It was the American’s first ATP Tour title of the season and third of his career.
The 22-year-old Shelton will move up one position to a career-best sixth spot when the new world rankings are released Monday.
Khachanov, 29, was denied an eighth career title and remained stuck at 199 career hardcourt wins.
With many spectators checking their devices for updates on Canada’s Victoria Mboko at the women’s final in Montreal, the men delivered a quality match at a packed Sobeys Stadium.
Shelton, who defeated Khachanov in their only previous meeting at Indian Wells last March, set the early tone by holding at love in the opening game. He punctuated the finish with a couple of aces.
His creativity has been key throughout his run to the final but he got burned at 3-3 when his soft slice from the baseline found the net on break point. The American got back on serve at 5-5 when his forehand clipped the net cord and handcuffed Khachanov.
After a hold, Khachanov saved three set points before taking the tiebreaker with a volley after repeatedly working the American from corner to corner.
For a second straight night, a glitch with the electronic line-calling system forced a short delay.
At 2-2 in the second set, the audio could not be heard on fault calls. The issue was resolved quickly and Khachanov would hold despite the technical hiccup.
Shelton picked up the first break of the set for a 5-4 lead and saved four break points before taking the set.
A trainer massaged Shelton’s right upper thigh before the start of the decider. The American seemed slightly slower but his pace was still strong.
He outpowered the Russian in the tiebreaker, seemingly firing aces and service winners at will before closing out the win in two hours 47 minutes.
The US$9.19-million tournament was expanded to a 96-player format this season.
Total attendance over one qualification day and 12 main-draw days was 217,531 despite several high-profile withdrawals. The pullouts included top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 5 Jack Draper of Britain and No. 6 Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
The previous best of 175,003 was set in 2023 when the main draw was a weeklong event.
Shelton became the first American winner at this ATP Masters 1000 tournament since Andy Roddick in 2003. He earned about $1.12 million with the victory while Khachanov pocketed almost $598,000.
Mboko defeated Japan’s Naomi Osaka in a three-set final at the WTA Tour stop in Montreal. The women will visit Toronto next summer while the men will head to Quebec to play at IGA Stadium.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2025.
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
