Now Reading: Ben Shelton Wins Second Straight Canadian Open, Beats Nakashima
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Ben Shelton Wins Second Straight Canadian Open, Beats Nakashima
American Ben Shelton beat fellow American Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 7-6(4) on Thursday to win the Canadian Open for a second consecutive year. The 12th seed did not drop a set all week,…
The Story in Brief
American Ben Shelton beat fellow American Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 7-6(4) on Thursday to win the Canadian Open for a second consecutive year. The 12th seed did not drop a set all week, becoming the first man since Novak Djokovic in 2016 to achieve that feat in Montreal. It was Shelton's second Masters 1000 crown and seventh career title.
The all-American final was the first at Masters level since Andy Roddick beat Mardy Fish in Cincinnati in 2003. Nakashima, playing his first Masters final, had beaten Spain's Rafael Jodar in the semifinal. Shelton's victory comes after a stretch of poor results that included first-round exits at Wimbledon and Roland Garros.
The Indian Opinion
Headlines will trumpet an American tennis revival, but Shelton's run masks a rocky season, he had just one win in four Masters events before Montreal. Nakashima showed promise but could not convert five match points in his semifinal. The real test comes at the US Open, where no American man has won since Roddick in 2003. Can Shelton carry this hard-court form through two weeks? Or will the familiar Grand Slam pressure return?
Sources (2): sportstar.thehindu.com, deccanchronicle.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
