Ben Shelton will meet Brandon Nakashima for the Montreal title on Thursday.
Chris OddoAugust 12, 20263 minute read
Ben Shelton is the type of player that would run through walls to win a point. In fact, the 24-year-old tried that during the second set of his semifinal with Learner Tien in Montreal on Thursday. He emerged with a bloody elbow, and needed to take five while on court doctors cleaned him up.
A minor speedbump for the defending champion on the way to an otherwise impressive victory.
Shelton dominated throughout and earned his first career win over the Southern California native, 6-2, 6-3, to set an historic final with Brandon Nakashima on Thursday in Montreal.
“After the medical timeout I played four of the best return points that I played so far,” Shelton said. “Super happy with the performance. Learner is a guy that presents a lot of problems with me and my game.”
For the first time in 31 years, the Canadian Masters final will feature two Americans. The last time two American men met in the final in Canada was 1995, when Andre Agassi defeated Pete Sampras for the title.
Shelton, who stretched his tournament win streak to 11 matches, will bid to become the first repeat champion in Canada since another lefty, the great Rafael Nadal, won his fifth and final title north of the border in 2019.
Shelton broke open the match with a run of seven games on the trot from 2-2 in the first, and Tien never could get back into the match.
Tien, playing his first Masters 1000 semifinal, appeared to be struggling with a right elbow injury, but he battled to keep things close down the stretch in spite of his difficulties.
“It’s always physical against him, he can jerk you around the court in a lot of different ways and you have to play intelligent tennis,” Shelton said. “That was the biggest key for me today.”
Shelton saved all four break points he faced and converted three of five opportunities against Tien’s serve. He won 58 of 91 points that featured eight or fewer strokes and hit 11 forehand winners as he improved to 4-0 in semifinals this season.
Shelton will bid for his second Masters and seventh overall title in a match that will feature as the first all-American Masters 1000 final since Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish met in the Cincinnati final in 2003.
“It means a lot,” Shelton said. “So many guys in the mix, doing great things in our country for this sport. It’s an honor to be playing another American in the finals in a tournament as big as this.”
Shelton, now 28-7 on North American hard courts since last July, leads his lifetime head-to-head with Nakashima 5-0.