Ben Shelton staged a remarkable comeback from a set down to triumph over Karen Khachanov in the Canadian Open final, clinching his maiden Masters 1000 title and pocketing a whopping $1,124,380 in prize money. And the American now has Jack Draper in his sights – both in the ATP Tour men’s rankings and all-time prize money list. Shelton’s winnings marked the highest ever in the history of the Canadian Open, and the 22-year-old will undoubtedly be brimming with confidence as he heads into the US Open, which also offers a record-breaking prize pool.
Shelton initially lost the first set tie-break against Khachanov. The American rallied in the second set to force a decisive third, where Shelton finally bested Khachanov in the tie-break. This marked Shelton’s debut Masters 1000 final, and it stands as one of his most notable tournament performances to date. On his journey to the Canadian Open final, Shelton only conceded one set, which was against Flavio Cobolli. He managed to defeat top-tier players such as Brandon Nakashima, Alex de Minaur, and Taylor Fritz.
Both De Minaur and Fritz are ranked within the ATP top 10, and Shelton made history by becoming the youngest American since Pete Sampras to secure back-to-back top 10 victories in an ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final and semi-final.
Shelton was aged 22 years and 291 days when he accomplished this feat on Thursday night. In comparison, Sampras was aged 20 years and 364 days when he achieved the same at the 1992 Cincinnati Open.
Shelton has truly come into his own this year, storming into the Australian Open semi-finals and following that up with his best French Open (fourth round) and Wimbledon (quarter-finals) to date. Thanks to his 2025 so far, Shelton is now world No.5 – and only one spot behind British No.1 Draper.
The American only trails his rival by 330 ranking points so could overtake Draper imminently. And his overall career prize money after glory in Canada is now $8,047,135 which puts him 140th on the all-time list. Draper is in 135th on $8,193,771.
Shelton said after winning: “It’s a surreal feeling. It’s been a long week, not an easy path to the final. My best tennis came out when it mattered most. I was clutch, I persevered, I was resilient. All the qualities I like to see in myself.
“Karen was bullying me around the court. The way he hit his forehand tonight, the way he was cutting off the court, the way he was serving, it felt like I had a freight train coming at me. So it was uncomfortable to move forward. The ball was coming at me even faster.
“But I started being able to redirect, get some big shots off of my own, and kind of flip the momentum of that match. So that was huge for me. I love the way that he (his dad Bryan) coaches me. He usually leaves stuff up to me. He gives me a lot of suggestions. He knows me better than anyone in the world, so he’s well qualified to give me those suggestions.”
A version of this story appeared on the Express US
