Ben Shelton passes Djokovic for World No. 6 after first Masters 1000 win

USA Today

3 days ago

Ben Shelton claimed his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy on Thursday, defeating World No. 16 Karen Khachanov, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3), in a 2-hour and 47-minute final at the National Bank Open in Toronto, Canada.
Shelton, 22, is quickly cementing himself as the future of American tennis. He's had career-best runs at every Grand Slam event this year, and reaching the latter stages of 500 and 1,000-point events has become commonplace. He's the sixth player born in the 2000s to win an ATP Masters 1000 title and the youngest American to do it since Andy Roddick won the Miami Open in 2003.
'I think everyone has a different path. Everyone's story is written differently. I've kind of done it my way,' Shelton said. 'There's been a lot of guys to look up to, just because how young they have been when they have broken through and have had so much success at big tournaments. Tennis seems to be a sport that has young champions all the time, which is not common or normal, it's ultra impressive.
'I hope that this week kind of kick-starts me and gets me more consistent with the type of tennis that I want to play day in and day out. It's certainly going to push me to work harder. I feel like I have a good grasp now on the things that really work for me against guys who are playing some of the best tennis in the world, and the things that I need to continue to work on.'
Shelton's path to his maiden Masters 1000 title wasn't easy either. He had to get through World No. 4 Taylor Fritz in the semifinals, No. 8 Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals and No. 12 (then No. 16) Khachanov in the final. Former No. 17 (now No. 22) Flavio Cobolli was also on the path to Shelton's championship. He's the youngest American to beat four top-20 players in the same tournament since Pete Sampras did it at the 1995 Indian Wells.
Match Summary
Both players held serve through the first six games, rarely allowing a return point. Shelton had three aces to Khachanov's two up to that point, but he also had the only double fault early on in the match. Khachanov delivered the first break of the match to go up, needing two advantages to do so. Shelton tried to respond, but Khachanov fended off a break point to hold serve.
Shelton evened things up with a break in the 10th game, and he fired three aces in his next service match to go up 6-5. Khachanov survived three set points from Shelton, forcing a tiebreaker, and came back from 5-3 with four-straight points to claim the first set.
It took even longer for the second set to reach a break point. Shelton won the ninth game, going up 5-4 into a service game for the set. Khachanov reached triple break point, but Shelton worked his way back one point at a time, denying one more break point and forcing a third set for the championship title.
Neither player reached a break point in the third set, as if to say, let's settle this in the tiebreaker. Shelton entered the match with just five wins in 20 games after losing the first set, but he wasn't going to drop a second tiebreaker. After notching the all-important first return point, Shelton stayed on serve to go up 5-2. His 38th winner of the day put him a point away from his first Masters 1000 title, and an unforced error from Khachanov sealed it, 7-3 in the tiebreak.
Ben Shelton's ATP ranking
Shelton's newly acquired No. 6 ranking might not last long. He's dropping 230 points this week, according to the live rankings, which gives Djokovic a 40-point cushion to work with. If Shelton wins his second-round match (more on that below), he'll be tied with Djokovic.
Jack Draper isn't too far away from Shelton with 4,440 points in the No. 5 spot. Shelton could certainly pass him with a deep run, especially because Draper isn't playing right now; neither is Djokovic. Catching up to Taylor Fritz at No. 4 (5,525) might be difficult, unless the top-ranked American falters in the Round of 32 — he's already recorded a win in Cincinnati.
What's Next for Ben Shelton?
There are no breaks at this point in the ATP Tour schedule. Another Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati starts as soon as the National Bank Open concludes, and Shelton is looking to make another deep run before a short break ahead of the final Grand Slam of the season, the US Open.
Shelton arrived in Cincinnati on Friday, less than 24 hours removed from winning the National Bank Open. He didn't have to play in the opening round as the fifth seed, but a second-round match with unseeded Camilo Ugo Carabelli awaits on Sunday, not before 7 p.m. ET, following the Carlos Alcaraz-Damir Dzumhur match on Center Court.
Shelton and Carabelli have not faced each other yet, but Shelton is the easy favorite based on ranking and recent performance. However, it's tough to make runs in back-to-back tournaments, especially with just 72 hours of rest in between matches. A victory would match Shelton with Roberto Bautista Agut, whom the former Gator is 2-0 against, in the Round of 32. Potential matchups with Daniil Medvedev and Jiri Lehecka linger beyond that.
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