“Even more uncharted territory. Humble and Hungry,” Ben Shelton wrote this on the TV camera after his 6-4,6-3 triumph in the all-American clash against Taylor Fritz in the SF of the Canadian Open. After securing a dominating performance in that match, he spoke about the improvements in his game and also admitted his happiness at executing his plans to the fullest. “There are a lot of things to be proud about and beating two Top 10 guys back to back is huge for me,” said Shelton after beating Alex de Minaur and Fritz in two consecutive matches. Keeping that hunger for success intact, he managed to put on a similar stellar performance in the final!

Ben Shelton defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov in the final by 6(5)-7,6-4,7-6(3). With this win, Shelton not only became the youngest American ATP Masters 1000 champion since Andy Roddick (2004 Miami Open triumph) but also climbed up to fourth place in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin. Several tennis stars, including Coco Gauff, Taylor Townsend, and several others, joined hands to congratulate the 22-year-old on his recent success.

Both Coco Gauff and Taylor Townsend had previously congratulated Victoria Mboko on her win against Naomi Osaka in the women’s final. Now seeing Ben Shelton’s title triumph at the Canadian Open, Gauff shared a post highlighting Shelton’s glorious moment on her IG stories and captioned it with, “big time 🎉 @benshelton.” Shelton’s mixed doubles partner at the 2025 US Open, Taylor Townsend, also shared a similar post on her IG stories with the caption, “@benshelton 👏🏿🙌🏿✨.” ATP star Chris Eubanks also joined them and congratulated Ben Shelton through an IG story, which was captioned, “Insane stuff 🔥🔥 @benshelton.” Andy Roddick was the last man to win this title. He defeated David Nalbandian in the final that time by 6-1,6-3.

Other than that, even Shelton’s sister, Emma Shelton, highlighted a moment of Ben Shelton celebrating the victory with her father, Bryan Shelton, through an IG story, which was captioned, “they deserve the world 🥺❤️.” Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs, dropped a tweet saying, “Huge congrats @BenShelton !!! Masters 1000 champ. So deserved. Go gator! Get up and go!“

However, this wasn’t the first time we’ve seen players like Gauff and Townsend celebrating Ben Shelton’s incredible milestones. Previously, when he broke into the Top 10, the ATP Tour came with a post which captioned, “Milestone unlocked 🔓 Welcome to the Top 10.” Coco Gauff had commented on this post with a series of fire emojis.

Even Taylor Townsend celebrated his astonishing feat by sharing an IG story with the caption, “Proud of you, my bro.” So, Shelton seems to be quite popular among his peers! But what was his own reaction after this incredible title triumph in Toronto?

Ben Shelton sends a heartfelt message to his close ones after this title triumph

This is Ben Shelton‘s third tour-level title, and he has now won nine of his last ten matches. Positive signs ahead of the 2025 US Open? Perhaps so! Shelton has now also become the youngest American to beat four ATP Top 20 opponents in a single event since Pete Sampras at Indian Wells in 1994.

This match was literally a nail-biter. Both players won 49 points in the first set, 29 in the second, and in the third set, Shelton won 36 points while Khachanov could only secure 31 points. “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,” Ben Shelton said after the match.

Later on, he even went on to highlight how his father’s little insights in this match helped him seal the deal against Khachanov. “I love the way that he 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,” he said about Bryan Shelton in his post-match interview.

We also saw Ben Shelton giving a shout-out to his girlfriend, Trinity Rodman, in his speech, “The joy I feel today isn’t just because of the win. It’s because of the people I get to spend every day with. The people I love. The people that love me. The people that will fight for me and have my back. There’s a couple here. There’s a whole lot that aren’t here. My whole extended family. Especially my mom and my sister and my girlfriend. They’ve been with me every single day even though they haven’t been here in Canada.” With this win, Shelton has now taken his win-loss record to 32-16. Do you think this win will give a major boost to his confidence ahead of the US Open?