The fourth seed of the United States, Ben Shelton, defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in a battle against his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open on Thursday.
The World No. 7 blocked a week, which led him to beat Italy’s 13th seed Flavio Coboli, Australia’s 9th seed Alex de Miral and US second seed Taylor Fritz in his first Masters 1000 title and career-biggest title.
The 22-year-old is the youngest American who has won the 1,000 Masters since Miami’s former World No. 1 Andy Roddick in 2004.
When Khachanov led 5-3 in the opening game, he seemed to be winning, but Shelton worked hard to break the serve and lead 6-5. Khachanov, 29, then recovered to force a tiebreaker and took advantage of Shelton’s series of mistakes to capture the first set.
When the technical issue stopped the game 2-2, the second set brought its own twist and the stadium was unable to register for the phone.
Once the game resumed, Khakanov led 4-3 after Sheldon complained. However, the resilient Sheldon broke into the 5-4 lead again and saved four breakout points to win the championship, which forced the decision to be decided by the steal.
Health & Wellness Contributor
A wellness enthusiast and certified nutrition advisor, Meera covers everything from healthy living tips to medical breakthroughs. Her articles aim to inform and inspire readers to live better every day.
