Ben Shelton defeats ATP No. 9 Alex de Minaur and ATP No. 4 Taylor Fritz in the semifinals of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers to reach his first career ATP Masters 1000 Tour Finals.
TORONTO, Canada – Ben Shelton continues to astound the tennis world with his performances in the Grand Slam tournaments and ATP Tour tournaments. Participating in the National Bank Open presented by Roger in Toronto, Ontario, Shelton had back-to-back straight set wins over ATP No. 9 Alex de Minaur, 6-3 and 6-4, and ATP No. 4 Taylor Fritz, 6-4 and 6-3, to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 Tour finals for the first time in his career.
The National Bank Open started on Jul. 27 with 128 athletes playing in the tournament. Shelton had earned a first round bye, and started by defeating Adrian Mannarino in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-3, in the Round of 64. From there Shelton played all three sets to defeat Brandon Nakashima 6-7, 6-2 and 7-6(5) and Flavio Cobolli 6-4, 4-6 and 7-6(1) to reach the Quarterfinals.
Shelton also competed in the doubles portion of the tournament with Arthur Fils and made it to the Quarterfinals. However, the duo ultimately decided to withdraw allowing Shelton to focus on his performance in the singles tournament.
Shelton is facing off against ATP No. 16 Karen Khachanov in the Finals, who has never won a title at the National Bank Open and his last ATP Master 1000 title came in 2018 against. Winning this tournament would secure Shelton his third career title and the first title for this year. A win would also propel him past Novak Djokovic to be No. 6 in the ATP Rankings.
The Finals match between Shelton and Khachanov can be watched tonight at 7:30 p.m. (ET) with a subscription to SportsNet+<https://watch.sportsnet.ca/national_bank_open_presented_by_rogers> or TennisTV<https://www.tennistv.com/tournaments/national-bank-open>.
Shelton’s National Bank Open Results
Round
Opponent
Result
Sets
Round of 128
BYE
Round of 64
Adrian Mannarino
W
6-2, 6-3
Round of 32
Brandon Nakashima
W
6(8)-7, 6-2, 7-6(5)
Round of 16
Flavio Cobolli
W
6-4, 4-6, 7-6(1)
Quarterfinals
No. 9 Alex de Minaur
W
6-3, 6-4
Semifinals
No. 4 Taylor Fritz
W
6-4, 6-3
Finals
No. 16 Karen Khachanov
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