Ben Shelton has won a Masters 1000 title on the ATP Tour for the very first time.
Shelton overcame Karen Khachanov in three sets to claim victory and lift the Canadian Open title to prepare in some style for the US Open.
The tour will first swing into Cincinnati for another Masters event, but eyes will be on Flushing Meadows with things set to get underway at the end of the month.
Shelton was praised by Coco Gauff for his efforts against Khachanov and it would appear as though fans were very impressed with his etiquette out on the court, too.
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Ben Shelton hailed as a ‘class act’ during Canadian Open victory
Shelton sent a classy response to Victoria Mboko after her win in Toronto but it was something he did in his match that captured the hearts of the fans.
Once again, some technical issues prevented some calls being made correctly when Khachanov was serving at two games all in the second set.
With the umpire unmoved and sticking to his principles, Shelton decided to get involved and actually allowed Khachanov to have another crack at a first serve, such was the unfair nature of the call.
Fans took to Instagram to rave about Shelton’s act of generosity and it’s clear that the fans felt it was most definitely the right thing to do.
Some of the comments on the Instagram post, included:
“Gave him TWO 1st serves and still won! Class act from Ben Shelton. Well deserved 1st Masters 1000 title Big Ben.”
“Sports doesn’t build character, it reveals it. Good on you, Ben Shelton.”
“Both Ben and Karen showed true sportsmanship and spoke so respectfully about each other and their teams which was really moving. Frustrations with the line system were valid and Ben handled it with total class. Congrats, Ben. Canada loves you.”
“We need more Ben in this sport.”
“Loved this, I enjoyed watching that.”
“Class from Shelton, stupid from the umpire, supervisor and ATP. Bonkers that the players have to self-govern”
Shelton can take good form into US Open
The American player has shown that he can reach the business end of major tournaments and now he needs to start proving that he’s got what it takes to win a major crown.
Shelton played well at Wimbledon before running into Jannik Sinner and there are definitely a lot of positive things for the world number six to take from his current form.
The player has strong backing from his box, with dad Bryan a former professional player himself and it’s clear that he has a good support network around him.
It’s exciting to see what Shelton can achieve for the rest of the year and hopefully, he can ruffle some feathers and go far at the US Open this year.
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