Ben Shelton had no idea what awaited him on the other side of his hotel room door in Montreal. Hours before his fourth-round clash with Joao Fonseca at the National Bank Open, his girlfriend, USWNT and Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, showed up completely unannounced, catching him visibly off guard. 

Rodman shared the moment herself on Instagram, captioning the clip “Surprised his a**, happy matchday in Montreal,” alongside footage of Shelton comically shutting the door before reopening it to process what was happening.

Whatever the visit did for his nerves, it clearly brought out the best in him. That evening, Shelton had one of the best moments of the tournament yet: a shot so good that even Rodman and fellow player Arthur Fils, who had booked his own spot in the quarter-finals on the previous day, were visibly stunned. ‘Tennis Channel’ picked it as their Shot of the Day, seeing that it had wowed everyone, regardless of their side of the net. 

The highlight-reel moment was backed up with the victory, as Shelton downed Joao Fonseca 6-3, 7-6(3) at the ATP Canadian Open 2026. He secured a berth in the quarter-finals, where he will continue fighting for the title in Montreal.

“It was tough out there today, and I competed well,” Shelton said later. “It wasn’t easy conditions to play in. I struggled to find my footing on a lot of balls, as did he.

“A lot of it just comes down to grit in a match like this. So to come through with a win against a really high-quality player like Joao is huge for me.”

Reflecting on his win over Fonseca afterwards, Shelton credited his growing consistency for keeping his title defence alive. He pointed to his ability to close out tight moments in straight sets rather than needing three-set battles to get through.

Rodman’s surprise visit also brought a softer side to an otherwise serious week. So, it’s Shelton’s turn to focus on Jakub Mensik. With that, Shelton has a chance of winning back-to-back in Canada.

Defending champion Ben Shelton ranks 1o, while Mensik is at No. 17.

On the other hand, Jakub Mensik defeated the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 7-5 to advance ahead.

With titles already secured in Dallas, Munich and Stuttgart, Shelton now has his sights set on a fourth championship this season.