Ben Shelton on defending his Montreal title: “The way you win matters to me”
Ben Shelton believes the underdog mindset he carried through a difficult season had a direct impact on his run to a second straight Montreal title. During the last press conference of the week in Montreal, he told reporters that treating each match at face value, not the scoreline, kept him sharp all week.
Ben Shelton, Montreal 2026 | © Zuma / PsNewz
Ben Shelton spoke to reporters in Montreal on Friday night, a big smile on the face, after beating fellow American Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 7-6 (4) to defend his Canadian Open title without dropping a set all tournament, becoming the seventh man in the Open Era to defend this crown.
Asked to reflect on the week, he pointed first to his affinity for the country itself. “I don’t know if I feel at home here, but I feel like the conditions suit me really well,” he started. “I feel like the crowds really get behind me here, and I think it’s just great tournaments – Toronto, here, amazing cities and a lot of fun to be here and compete. So to go back-to-back means a lot to me, and I’m super happy with where my game was at this week.”
First game of the match, Brandon gets four aces on the first five points. What goes through your mind at that point?
Ben Shelton: Expected, for me. I’d seen the way he was playing this week, I watched the tape and he was serving lights out. I mean, all the other parts of his game were going really well too, but the serve, that’s the biggest weapon, and I knew he was going to come out firing. He did come out hot with the serve. He hit a lot of spots today, he hit the line so many times, especially in the second set. The way he served with his back against the wall was incredible, clutch serving. When he hit the flat T serve on the deuce point, he had to hit the line to beat me there — I was doing a good job covering that spot today, and he did hit that line again and again. A lot of credit to him for the way he played this week, and the way he played tonight. He’s playing some serious ball.
Growing up as tennis players, we all dream of making a winning shot to win a championship, and you just did. Does it taste as good as we think?
Ben Shelton: A hundred percent. I think the way you win, for me it also matters — not just winning, but the way you do it, and I couldn’t be more happy with the way I did it this week. I thought tonight was such a good display for me — the way I moved on the court, the way I struck the ball, my serve and return. I thought I was versatile, I played all-court tennis, and I’m super happy with the way the match turned out. And ending the match on a fading backhand forehand winner down the line feels good for sure.
I knew a few times this week I was playing guys who had beaten me before — in the case of the semi-final, a guy I’d never beaten.
You weren’t necessarily the outright favorite when the tournament started, but…
Ben Shelton: I take every match at face value. I’m not someone who looks ahead in the draw, so I’m not really thinking about who’s left, because I’m pretty focused on the matchup in front of me. I knew a few times this week I was playing guys who had beaten me before — in the case of the semi-final, a guy I’d never beaten. So I actually think in some of these matches I was the underdog, at least that’s the way I looked at it. So that didn’t come into play as much for me.
With the way you won this tournament, how much confidence does that give you to challenge the Sinners and Alcarazes of this tour?
Ben Shelton: It’s a constant process for me. I love having people out in front of me that I can chase, it’s been that way my whole career — I’ve never just been the best, I’ve always been chasing the best, been a little bit behind in my progression, and I think that’s pushed me in every aspect of my tennis game. I’ll continue to work to chase the guys in front of me, and obviously try to stay ahead of the young guys coming out on tour. I played a lot of young guys this week — the future of the sport, really high-quality players, and there’s so many more coming up. Tennis is a game where you’ve got to keep improving or you get passed up, left in the dust. So my job, with the gifts that I have, is to try to maximize, do as much as I can in this sport, become the best version of myself, and that’s where my focus lies.
Two-part question: on a week like this where everything seems to click, did you have some particular habit – a place to go eat, a particular routine? And how do you keep it going in a different city, different conditions, different everything?
Ben Shelton: I’m not superstitious in that way. I definitely like to keep my routines pretty similar in terms of how I warm up, how I practice, what I eat pre-match, how much time I give myself between my warm-up and the match. I think those things are important to me, but other than that I’m not too superstitious. I’m somebody who thrives off match play — when I’m playing a lot of matches, I find my form. So getting to the back end of a tournament and knowing I’m going to the next one, Cincinnati, starting in just a few days, is massive for me and my confidence, to keep things rolling. And compared to last year, winning the way I won this week is going to be a lot easier on my body to be ready for Cincinnati in a few days.
How much does this Masters win mean to you, especially considering the ups and downs you’ve had in these tournaments since the beginning of the year?
Ben Shelton: It means a lot. It hasn’t been the best stretch for me at the big tournaments. I’ve had some big highlights this year with the titles I’ve won, and once I’ve got going in a tournament it’s tough to slow me down, but I hadn’t performed so far this year as well as I wanted to at the big tournaments, and it’s always good to be able to turn that around. Tennis is a sport where you get so many opportunities to compete, the years are so long, which is a blessing and a curse, because you always have something new to look forward to, another opportunity to show up.
For me, I know just one match can change everything, so that’s how I look at things, and it really does help me stay in the moment and be ready for when my opportunity does come up – that I’m in the right mental space, not thinking about what happened earlier in the year. I’m knowing, okay, we’re on hard courts now, we’re in my favorite swing, this is a tournament I always play well at – not, oh, I have these points to defend. Going into this tournament I was like, okay, I’m number 10 in the race right now, going into my favorite swing of the year, and I’m ready to make a move. I think having that type of mentality really paid off for me.
You mentioned the future and the US Open. What’s on your mind right now? What’s your next goal, your next step in your career?
Ben Shelton: Cincinnati. I play in three days, so I get there tomorrow and get back to work. Hopefully I get a Sunday start, not a Saturday start, and let’s see what we can do there.
