Ben Shelton battled past Italian star Flavio Cobolli in the Canadian Open fourth round on Sunday night.
The hotly-contested affair, encapsulated by a tense exchange at the net, was won by Shelton 6-4 4-6 7-6 under the bright lights of Toronto.
The American, who recently cracked the ATP top-10, fired down 12 aces across the contest while converting three of nine break-point opportunities.
Photo by Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images
Shelton is playing in his third Canadian Open, having first competed at the tournament in 2023. During that particular event he ran into Carlos Alcaraz in the second round.
The Spaniard, hot off his first Wimbledon title, had some high praise for young Shelton.
Carlos Alcaraz said he almost broke a string after playing Ben Shelton for the first time
In July 2023, Carlos Alcaraz was already a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2022 US Open and Wimbledon 2024.
As the number one seed in Canada, Alcaraz received a bye through to the second round. Meanwhile, Shelton defeated Alcaraz’s compatriot, Bernabé Zapata Miralles, to set up a meeting with the world number one.
This was the first encounter contested by the pair on the ATP Tour. Ultimately Alcaraz demonstrated his Grand Slam winning credentials on his Canadian Open debut, defeating Shelton 6-3 7-6.
Alcaraz, always a polite figure whether winning or losing, complimented Shelton’s game following his victory.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Alcaraz said of Shelton: “Well, he’s a really nice player. You know, he hits the ball. You know, honestly, I never played against someone that hit the ball as hard as he hit.
“It’s something crazy. You know, some serves at 235. Honestly, I almost broke my string.
“So he’s great. I mean, he’s going to be over there a long time, I’m sure. We are going to play so many matches more.
Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
“And, you know, he’s really, really tough. So he’s a real aggressive one. He didn’t let me play my game that is aggressive going to the net. So he did it almost every time. So he’s really nice.”
Alcaraz and Shelton have gone on to play a further two times on the ATP Tour, with Alcaraz winning both times.
American men make history at the Canadian Open
In contrast to the continued success of American women, American men have struggled to make their mark on the sport in the last two decades.
In fact, there has not been a male American Grand Slam singles winner since Andy Roddick’s US Open victory in 2003.
However, the Canadian Open has shown a trend in the right direction, with Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and 20-year-old Alex Michelsen all reaching the quarter-final stage.
As per OptaAce, three Americans have reached the quarter-final at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time since Indian Wells in 2004.
Andy Roddick, James Blake and Andre Agassi all made the quarter-finals of Indian Wells in 2004.
3 – Three Americans (Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Alex Michelsen) have reached the quarter-final at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time since Indian Wells in 2004 (Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, James Blake). Big.#NBO25 | @NBOtoronto @atptour @ATPMediaInfo
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) August 4, 2025
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In 2025, Fritz, Shelton and Michelsen could make more history, as they have not been drawn against each other in the quarter-finals.
Michelsen faces 11th seed Karen Khachanov, Fritz will play the 2024 finalist Andrey Rublev and Shelton will battle against the ‘Demon’ Alex de Minaur: who recently weighed in on the debate concerning the conditions in Canada.