Ben Shelton is probably a higher seed than he would have expected to be for this year’s Canadian Open.
Shelton, who is currently at a career-high ranking, will be the fourth seed for the Masters 1000 tournament in Toronto this year.
There have been many withdrawals from the Toronto event, including world number one Jannik Sinner withdrawing from the Canadian Open.
Sinner is one of four players inside the top six of the ATP rankings that has pulled out, with Carlos Alcaraz also missing the Canadian Open.
Photo by Daniel Kopatsch/Getty ImagesBen Shelton says what he thinks about big name withdrawals from the Canadian Open
The top four seeds for this year’s Canadian Open are Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Lorenzo Musetti and Shelton.
While there is seemingly a potential opportunity for these players to take advantage of the absences of the likes of Sinner, Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, fourth seed Shelton has insisted that it is still ‘just as difficult’.
“Yeah, I guess a sense of opportunity,” Shelton said in his pre-tournament press conference at the Canadian Open. “I think a lot of players probably feel that. For me, I’m excited whenever it’s a big tournament, no matter who is in it, and the more top players in it, the better, you know. I’m sure that the fans feel the same way.
“Some unfortunate pullouts of the tournament this year, four of the top six, I think it is. But, yeah, you know, there’s a lot of great players, hungry, in-form players, who are looking to do some damage and, yeah, I think I’m one of those guys.
“So we’ll see. It’s just as tough. There’s so many great players on tour. It’s not like, Oh, you know, a few of the top guys or guys at the top aren’t playing, you know, it’s a free-for-all (laughing). I think it’s still, you know, just as difficult, and another opportunity to just get matches in and gain confidence going into the US Open.”
The Canadian Open has come under a lot of scrutiny this year, with Frances Tiafoe calling a big change to the tournament ‘garbage’.
Ben Shelton’s potential run to the Canadian Open title
As the fourth seed, Shelton receives an automatic bye to the second round, where he will play qualifier and former top 20 player Adrian Mannarino.
The first seed that Shelton can play is his compatriot Brandon Nakashima, who he has never lost a single set to in their four previous meetings.
Some of the other potential threats to Shelton in his half of the draw include Fritz, Tiafoe and Flavio Cobolli.
Some potential final opponents for Shelton include Zverev, Musetti, Holger Rune and Casper Ruud.
Shelton has only ever won two of his four previous matches at the Canadian Open, and has never before reached the semifinals of a Masters 1000 level tournament.
The world number seven will play his first match against Mannarino, who he has lost both of his two previous matches against, on Wednesday, July 30.