TORONTO/WASHINGTON, August 9, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

American Ben Shelton has been a man on a mission this summer. In his last three tournaments, he’s reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, the semifinals at the DC Open and won the National Bank Open.

With the start of the US Open just two weeks away, the 22-year-old former NCAA singles champion from the University of Florida is playing some of the best tennis of his young life. He’s won nine of his last 10 matches, including six straight.

After winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title Thursday night in Toronto, come Monday, Shelton will be rewarded with a career-best ranking of World No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He will surpass 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic. Shelton has also moved into fourth place in the Live Race to the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, looking to earn a berth in the year-end championships for the first time.

It’s Ben Shelton’s time

The young American lifted the biggest title of his career late Thursday night, winning the National Bank Open in Toronto in a three-set thriller

Let’s wrap up the 2025 NBO with the Daily Recap served up by @sobeys ➡️ https://t.co/V2iCTI8bCm pic.twitter.com/Hqk4LSXR1d

— National Bank Open (@NBOtoronto) August 8, 2025

Over the next 10 days, in the run up to Flushing Meadows, Shelton will play in the Cincinnati Open. He’s seeded fifth in the ATP Masters 1000 event at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, where he will face No. 47 Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina in his opening-round match on Sunday. Unlike in Toronto, an event which they skipped, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy and World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain are among the favorites in the 96-player Cincinnati Open singles draw.

Shelton (32-16) could face Alcaraz in the semifinal round next week and Sinner in the finals. En route, he could draw No. 32 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain in the third round, No. 12 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the round of 16 and No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany in the quarterfinals. So, there’s a chance for Shelton to play against a lot of excellent opponents before the US Open starts on Aug. 24.

Happy to achieve ATP Masters 1000 milestone

Looking back to his 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3) National Bank Open title victory over No. 11 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia Thursday night in Toronto, Shelton said during his champion’s news conference that he was both “really happy” and “really grateful” for the opportunity to achieve his first ATP Masters 1000 crown – his third ATP Tour title overall. 

“I feel like it was a perfect storm for me this week,” he said. “A lot of tight matches, long matches, played some of the best tennis that I’ve played this year. And to finish out the way that I did, especially with the opponent that I had today, and the way that he was playing, I couldn’t be happier.”

Against Khachanov, who advanced to the Toronto final by knocking off World No. 3 and top-seeded Zverev in a semifinal third-set tiebreaker, Shelton struck 16 aces – including seven in the final set – and won the final 14 points on his serve. His fastest serve of the match clocked at 231 km/h (143 mph). Shelton withstood 29 winners from Khachanov while hitting 38 of his own. He outpointed his opponent 107-102.

BUILT FOR POWER @BenShelton blasts his way to the biggest title of his career pic.twitter.com/3mpQKt5CEq

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 8, 2025

Shelton came out of the blocks charging in the decisive tie-break – grabbing a 6-2 lead – that ultimately decided the outcome of the title match. He won on his second championship point. Afterward, Shelton was asked to describe his approach in playing the tiebreaker. His answer to this simple question spoke volumes about his competitive mind set.

“I felt in that last game my slice serves were moving like 10 feet left to right. I don’t know what it was, slight change in my ball toss or swing speed, and I was getting a crazy amount of bend on the serve,” Shelton recalled. “So I kind of just stuck with that. Stuck with the slider serves, whether it was into the body or to the forehand or to the backhand, I was just trying to make that ball move left to right.

“I’d been hitting a lot of fastballs throughout the match, a lot of straight balls, and I thought he was returning that serve pretty well. That kind of was my approach to going through my service points.

“On returns, I was just trying to be really aggressive with my footwork, find forehands, try to get to neutral, and get to attack. And, yeah, I hit one screamer return at the end of the tie-break, but just tried to flip the switch. I lost the first tie-break, not being tentative, but he overpowered me. He played bigger than I did, he hit better shots than I did, and I just didn’t want to go out the same way.”

Stepping stone to bigger things?

When Shelton was reminded by a reporter that Sinner enjoyed a break-out moment, when he won Toronto two years ago, one wondered if winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title could be a break-out moment for him – a stepping stone to bigger things?

“Yeah, yeah, you never know,” he said. “I think everyone has a different path. Everyone’s story is written differently. I’ve kind of done it my way. There’s been a lot of guys to look up to, just because how young they have been when they have broken through, and have had so much success at big tournaments.

“Tennis seems to be a sport that has young champions all the time, which is not common or normal, it’s ultra impressive. Yeah, I hope that this week kind of kick starts me and gets me more consistent with the type of tennis that I want to play day-in and day-out. It’s certainly going to push me to work harder. I feel like I have a good grasp now on the things that really work for me against guys who are playing some of the best tennis in the world, and the things that I need to continue to work on.”

Memories made together @BenShelton #NBO25 pic.twitter.com/iURbv90TWP

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 8, 2025

One of the constants in Shelton’s rise into the Top 10 this season has been the support he’s received from his coach, Bryan Shelton, a former touring pro who happens to be Ben’s father. During his trophy acceptance speech Thursday, Shelton spoke at length about his dad and their positive relationship. Just what makes his coaching dynamic work?

“He knows me really well. He doesn’t sugarcoat things, he’s honest,” the younger Shelton admitted. “I think I take things well from him because I respect the career he had as a player, I respect him as a coach, obviously, and I respect him as my dad. He respects me in the same way.

“I know that he has a great tennis mind, he respects my tennis mind, and my independence, knowing that, you know, he can let me go in the big moments and just let me play my game. But he does a great job of injecting little bits and pieces throughout the match that help me.

“So I think, you know, the respect is one thing that helps a lot, and then just the kind of coaching, coach/player model that we have I think works really well.”

Consistency is the key to Shelton’s success

Looking ahead, Shelton was asked what to describe what the next step for him in terms of his game and his mentality is in order to take the next big leap and win a Grand Slam.

“Yeah, for me, being as consistent as I was this week,” he said. “I think that the more opportunities that you have, the more times you put yourself in the positive to be playing against the best players in the world, you’re only going to get better.”

In the lead-up to beating Khachanov, who will rise to World No. 10 next week, Shelton defeated World No. 8 Alex de Minaur of Australia in the quarterfinal round and fellow American and World No. 4 Taylor Fritz in the semifinals. Both of those victories came in straight sets.

The moment Ben Shelton captured his first Masters 1000 title

A well deserved hug for pops. #NBO25 pic.twitter.com/keC2hgDA3q

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) August 8, 2025

“So, for me, it’s being in the later stages of the tournament and playing against guys who are playing their best tennis to see where I match up, and see where my weaknesses are and where I can get better,” Shelton said.

“I think that watching film is a huge piece for me, something that I didn’t do as much in the past, and as of late it’s been kind of an every-match thing for me, at least watching one match or one set start to finish on the guy I’m playing. I think it’s an important piece of the game that maybe I overlooked a little bit in the past, or didn’t think was as important, because I was like, I’m going to impose my game on whoever I was playing, but it’s a really important part of the game,” he added.

“I think that my tennis IQ and my tennis mind is something that is getting better, and something that needs to continue to get better.”