ATP Tour news: Ben Shelton wins 2026 Canadian Open as young guns show worth at Masters level

On the ATP Tour, the Masters 1000 tournament in Canada precedes an equivalent event in Cincinnati, which itself foreruns the final Grand Slam of the year: the US Open.

And those who were able to look past the ludicrous scheduling decisions in Montreal – at 12 days, its duration is two days short of a slam, with the final bizarrely taking place on a Thursday – witnessed a competition of unpredictable, high-quality, youth-driven tennis.

Indeed, it was the first time in an ATP tournament that all eight quarter-finalists were born this century.

With an average age of 22, and coincidentally having won 22 tour-level titles between them, the last eight at Canada could be seen as representing the future of men’s tennis.

Here, Sports News Blitz writer and tennis fan AJ Becker takes a closer look at their achievements.

Shelton shows class

As defending champion, Ben Shelton entered Montreal with a considerable number of points to protect as well as significant pressure on his shoulders.

It might be said that neither his preparation (losing in Washington to underdog Alejandro Tabilo) nor his draw (pitting him against highly capable youngsters João Fonseca in the round of 16 and Jakub Menšík in the quarter-finals) alleviated that pressure.

Even so, Shelton radiated the confidence and quality of a top player on autopilot, sweeping past those opponents, as well as countrymen Learner Tien and Brandon Nakashima, with considerable ease.

In doing so, he became the first player to defend the Canadian Open since Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2019 – and not since Novak Djokovic a decade ago has the title been won without a set being dropped.

Performing under pressure

Shelton may not belong in the company of those all-time greats, although the Georgia native has proved his top 10 bona fides by becoming only the ninth active male player to claim multiple Masters.

Moreover, despite a series of underwhelming tournaments this year – seven defeats to players ranked outside the top 50, an early casualty at Indian Wells and Miami, and tough losses at the French Open and Wimbledon – the 23-year-old has pulled off the rare feat of winning competitions on different surfaces, neatly spaced across the season.

His Dallas success came on indoor hard courts in February, and it was followed by a clay conquest at Munich in April and a further trophy on Stuttgart grass in June.

This outdoor hard-court triumph – bringing him to a 7-2 career record in tour finals – once again evinces that Shelton specialises in raising his level when the stakes are high.

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Nakashima finds feet

As for Nakashima, the Californian has always been comfortable with – and well acclimatised to – North American hard-court conditions. 

Yet, despite maintaining a steady presence inside the top 50, a Masters quarter-final had remained a box unticked, though his five prior losses in round-of-16 matches admittedly came against top-20 opponents.

This time, the earlier rounds showcased Nakashima at his most intense, with favourable draws against natural clay-courters Luciano Darderi and Daniel Altmaier, the hideously out-of-form Arthur Rinderknech, and Titouan Droguet, who has never been inside the top 100.

With former world number six Wayne Ferreira – himself a champion in Canada back in 1996 – now part of his coaching set-up, Nakashima then went beyond the merely prosaic, outplaying Rafael Jodar, the Spanish teenager who was arguably operating at a higher level than anyone else in the field.

His run to the semi-finals in Washington and final appearance in Montreal can be counted among the finer moments of the 25-year-old’s career thus far.

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Jodar rise continues

Speaking of Jodar, one could argue that the tour has never witnessed a debut season as sensational as that of the 19-year-old from Madrid.

Placed at number 911 when he played his first match of 2025 against the much higher-ranked Roberto Cid Subervi of the Dominican Republic, Jodar began to initiate his ambitious approach and stylish performances on North American hard courts during the final third of last year.

In the end, the Spaniard was a semi-finalist at six Challenger events out of eight, winning three.

Whilst this would have undoubtedly bred confidence and accelerated his progress, Jodar was still having to compete in Challenger qualifying at the start of 2026, ranked number 165. 

Top 10 breakthrough

With a tour title, a pair of Masters quarter-finals, and the last eight of a Grand Slam already under his belt, Jodar’s breakneck ascent continued with a first 500-level final at Washington and a maiden Masters semi in Quebec.

The fact he cruised past top-quality opponents Lorenzo Musetti and Arthur Fils in both tournaments shows that his imminent top-10 entry is not by accident.

And if the ATP is after a new messiah, Jodar seems to fit the crown perfectly: his qualities include passion, endurance, belief, dynamism, and of course exceptional talent – as befits a Spaniard named Rafael!

Indeed, his style and demeanour evoke innumerable Spanish spirits of the past – from Nadal to Fernando Verdasco, Carlos Moyá, and Juan Carlos Ferrero – yet he has somehow fashioned those borrowings into a tennis statement that’s refreshingly individual.

Who could have predicted all this a year ago? Certainly not Subervi, who has since crash-landed to number 1351.

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Tien pushing boundaries

Tien’s ranking rise has been rather less rapid.

The left-hander established himself in the top 20 back in May, some 16 months after first arriving in the top 100 and before he had delivered any ‘statement results’ on the big stages.

Now, after tasting success across different surfaces and on other continents, his return to North American hard courts brought him a maiden semi-final at Masters level.

The standout performances, against Tommy Paul and Thiago Tirante – even if those opponents were not at their best physically – amounted to a consolidation of Tien’s strengths and a restatement of purpose at a crucial stage of the season.

It is also worth noting that this event saw the first all-American Masters final since 2003 – coincidentally also the year in which Andy Roddick was the last American man to be a Grand Slam champion in singles.

And for those who believe today’s Americans cannot match up to yesterday’s, this edition of the Canada Masters should restore a considerable degree of faith.

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