TORONTO — Ben Shelton, the American rising talent and world No. 7, made his first Grand Slam semifinal at the 2023 U.S. Open as a 20-year-old. Two years later, the box office showman has his maiden ATP Masters 1,000 title.

In front of 10,805 fans at Sobeys Stadium on Thursday night, Shelton outlasted world No. 16 Karen Khachanov in three sets 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6(3) to win the Canadian Open, in what his dad and coach, Bryan, called a “gutty performance.”

“I feel like it was a perfect storm for me this week,” Ben Shelton said. “A lot of tight matches, long matches, played some of the best tennis that I’ve played this year.”

There were so many instances throughout this 12-day tournament that Shelton could have gone out. He was down a break in the third set to Brandon Nakashima in the round of 32, before winning a third-set tiebreak. Against Flavio Cobolli in the round of 16, Shelton rallied from down 3-5, with Cobolli serving for the match, also capturing a third-set tiebreak. Shelton was most proud of his resilience throughout this tournament, and that fight ultimately earned him the biggest title of his career.

“I just continued to match him, and keep holding, and then played an unbelievable [third set] tiebreak,” Shelton said.

After trading the first three service holds, it was Khachanov who secured the first break of the match thanks to an unforced error by Shelton. That gave Khachanov a 4-3 lead and put him two games from the set.

But as he’s shown all tournament, Shelton never gives up. Down 5-4 with Khachanov serving for the set, the resilience was on display as Shelton connected on a 90 mph winner down 30-15. Back-to-back Khachanov errors gave Shelton the break, levelling the first set 5-5.

The first-set tiebreak was a display of Khachanov’s natural power. He was hitting bigger from the baseline, pushing Shelton back and dictating the pace. At 5-5, Khachanov cranked an 86 mph forehand winner to move to set point. Another winner, Khachanov’s third in a row, gave the Russian the first set.

The second set wasn’t short of drama. For Shelton’s second match in a row, there was a technical issue with the electronic line calling (ELC). At 2-2, 15-15, Khachanov served wide and the ball landed out. Because the audio wasn’t working, chair umpire Fergus Murphy called it a fault. The players went to the net to get an explanation. In a classy gesture, Shelton gave Khachanov the first serve opportunity after learning that the audio had malfunctioned.

“It’s Christmas,” Shelton said.

Shelton wasn’t just giving first serves to his opponents. He began increasing the speed on his groundstrokes as the set progressed. After breaking to go up 5-4, Shelton was quickly faced with a 0-40 hole serving for the set. He didn’t panic, connecting on back-to-back winners to force deuce. Facing his fourth break point, Shelton hit a 134 mph unreturnable serve. On set point, Shelton brought Khachanov to the net with a slice. Khachanov hit a backhand crosscourt approach before Shelton replied with a sliding forehand passing shot. Khachanov put the volley in the net, giving Shelton the second set. The American raised his right arm to the crowd as it roared, screaming his trademark “yeah” as the match was pushed to a third set.

Shelton got his right leg worked on before the final set began. It didn’t impact his movement or ability to hit blazing shots.

Both players served exceptionally in the third, not giving each other any break points. This match was destined to end in a final-set tiebreak.

Shelton got off to an early mini-break and never gave up the lead. He saved his fastest, crushing shots until after the two-hour mark. No bigger than at 5-2 in the tiebreak, when Shelton unleashed a forehand clapper off the return down the line. He let out a loud grunt and roar as the finish line was near.

Three hours before the final, Shelton worked on his serve with his Dad and coach Bryan. They placed ball containers on the other end of the court so Shelton could practice serving his spots. Several times, Shelton connected with the container.

“Ping!” as the container launched backward.

According to Bryan, one of the areas Ben improved his serve this year is his command.

“He’s a little bit more accurate,” Bryan said. “He’s not willing to leave the ball hanging in zones where people can attack, even if he has to miss it. I’d rather him miss sometimes than give them confidence by putting it in their strike zone.”

It’s fitting that Shelton hit his spot on match point with a 124 mph serve. A Khachanov unforced error gave Shelton the momentous victory.

“He served it out like crazy,” Khachanov said.

After the win, Shelton, fighting back tears, walked over to his team. He embraced his Dad, both with huge smiles.

“Let’s go,” Ben said to Bryan.

Ben hugged his Dad after winning and later shouted him out during the trophy ceremony. There’s a mutual respect, love and admiration between the two as coach and player, as father and son.

“I know that he has a great tennis mind, he respects my tennis mind, and my independence,” Shelton said. “He can let me go in the big moments and just let me play my game. But he does a great job of injecting little bits and pieces throughout the match that help me.”

After an entire tournament of practice, recovery and matches, Ben and Bryan could finally revel in this moment of jubilation.

“All of a sudden, you put your game face away, and it’s just the raw emotion and the feelings that you have and the love that you have for one another,” Bryan said of the embrace with his son.

As Shelton raised the champion trophy, he was set to move to No. 6 in the ATP Tour rankings and No. 4 in the ATP Race to Turin, which counts ranking points won in 2025. As a true freshman at the University of Florida, Shelton clinched the Gators’ first national championship. Now he is an ATP Masters 1,000 winner in Canada, with the potential to springboard to greater heights.

(Photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)