Shelton defends Montreal crown, joins elite Open Era club with gritty win over Nakashima

American Ben Shelton, the No. 5 seed, beat countryman Brandon Nakashima, the No. 28 seed, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to win the Canadian Open on Friday night, becoming just the seventh man in the Open Era to successfully defend this title, joining a list that runs from Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe through Andre Agassi, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. He is also the third man born in the 2000s to win multiple Masters 1000 titles, after Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

The win extended Shelton’s dominance of Nakashima to 6-0 in their career meetings and stretched his own winning streak in Canada to 12 matches. It was his second Masters 1000 title, his seventh career trophy and his fourth of 2026, a season in which he is now 4-0 in finals. Shelton did not drop a set until the final, where he had to grind out a tight second-set tiebreak to close it out.

Shelton was untouchable on serve throughout: he won 100 percent of his own service games and did not face a single break point all match. Shelton struck seven aces to Nakashima’s eight but was the far cleaner ball-striker, finishing with 22 winners to 12 unforced errors against Nakashima’s 19 winners and 21 unforced errors. He also won 83 percent of his own service points.

Shelton untouchable on serve

The first set was tight through three games apiece before Shelton pulled away, breaking at 3-3 after a deuce-heavy game and again to close it out 6-3, having gone unbroken himself. The second set was tighter still: both men held serve through all 12 games, Nakashima matching Shelton hold for hold to force a tiebreak.

Shelton opened the tiebreak strongly to lead 3-2, then pushed clear to 6-3 on the back of a mini-break, earning his first match point. Nakashima saved it to get to 6-4, but Shelton needed only one more chance, closing out the tiebreak 7-4 to seal the title.

“I’m not gonna say anything bad about Toronto. I love Toronto too, but Montreal just as much.”

In his runner-up speech, Nakashima reflected on the scale of what Shelton had just achieved. “I think a lot of people don’t realize how hard it is to go back-to-back, especially in different cities (Toronto and Montreal, editor’s note). It’s simply incredible,” he said, before thanking his team, his father in the stands, his mother watching from home and his brother away at college.

He also let slip a preference between the tour’s two Canadian stops. “I’m gonna be honest, I really enjoy it here in Montreal more than Toronto,” he said, adding that he was already looking ahead: “Unfortunately we’ll be back in Toronto next year, but I really look forward to coming back here in two years.”

Shelton, addressing the crowd with his own title on the line for local pride, tried to have it both ways. “I’m not gonna say anything bad about Toronto. I love Toronto too,” he said, drawing groans before adding, “but Montreal just as much.”