The men’s Canadian Open final was halted after the crowd began to celebrate the result of another match.
Ben Shelton picked up his first Masters 1000 title with a 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 victory over Karen Khachanov, but both players were confused when the stadium erupted into cheers halfway through the contest.
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Ben Shelton picked up his first title of 2025Credit: Getty
While the men’s final took place in at the Sobeys Stadium in Toronto, the decider in the women’s tournament was being played out in Montreal.
This saw Canadian youngster Victoria Mboko pull off a stunning upset by beating four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka.
The 18-year-old picked up her first WTA Tour title with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory, and word certainly travelled fast.
Khachanov was poised to serve when news of Mboko’s victory reached Toronto, as the crowd began to clap and cheer loudly.
This continued for several minutes, with both players visibly confused, as their cameras panned to their faces.
Shelton held up his arms to umpire Fergus Murphy and appeared to mouth: “What’s going on?”
As the noise levels continued to rise in the 12,500-capacity arena, the American then approached the match official in his chair.
Murphy explained to him: “I guess the Canadian player (Mboko) won in Montreal.”
This wasn’t the only time play had to be halted during the final clash, as technical issues stopped play with the score at 2-2 in the second set.
The players were unable to hear audio calls from the electronic line-calling system, with Shelton complaining.
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Karen Khachanov was set to serve when the crowd burst into celebrationCredit: @tennistv
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A confused Shelton gestured to the umpireCredit: @tennistv
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Match official, Fergus Murphy, had to explain the crowd were celebrating a result elsewhereCredit: @tennistv
Despite this, he was clearly unaffected by the interruptions, as he went on to seal a memorable win.
He said afterwords: “I feel like it was a perfect storm for me this week.
“A lot of tight matches, long matches, played some of the best tennis that I’ve played this year.
“And to finish out the week the way that I did, especially with the opponent that I had today, and the way that he was playing, I couldn’t be happier.”
And later on picking up his third career title, the 22-year-old made sure to congratulate Mboko on her victory.
He wrote on Instagram: “Congrats on the title Vicky Mboko.
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Victoria Mboko won seven successive matches to claim the Canadian Open titleCredit: Getty
“I had no idea what was going on at the time but Toronto went nuts for you.”
Mboko’s shock victory rounded off an incredible week for the Ontario native, who entered the tournament as a wildcard.
She began the year ranked 333rd in the world, but is projected to rise to 34 after a win that delighted her home crowd.
This will likely earn Mboko a seeded spot in the US Open, which begins on August 24, who couldn’t hide her delight afterwards/
She said: “I was super happy to be playing in Montreal for the first time ever.
“I just remember feeling nervous, but really taking in the moment as much as I possibly could..
“When I won my first round, I was super happy and super content. I would have never thought that I would have made it to the final, let alone win the tournament.
“I have so many emotions going through my head, I can’t even express it.”