Ben Shelton broke onto the scene by winning his first-ever ATP Masters 1000 championship a year ago in Toronto.<\/p>\n
He earned his second crown at that level \u2060by successfully defending his Canadian title on Thursday, defeating fellow American Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 7-6 (4) to win the National Bank Open in Montreal.<\/p>\n
It was the fourth time this century a \u2060male player won the \u2060Canadian title back-to-back. Rafael \u200bNadal was the most recent to do so in 2018-19. Andy Murray (2009-10) and Novak Djokovic (2011-12) accomplished the feat previously.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me to play the way that I \u2060played this week to go through this draw speaks to the work I have been putting in,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cIt also speaks to my mental toughness, my ability to focus through everything that was \u2060going on this week.\u201c<\/p>\n
In winning his fourth tournament of the season (Dallas, Munich and Stuttgart), fifth-seeded Shelton collected 22 winners and committed \u200b12 unforced errors. Nakashima, seeded 28th, had 19 winners and \u200c21 unforced errors.<\/p>\n
Nakashima fell to \u200c0-6 against Shelton and was denied his first Masters 1000 title. His only tournament win on the tour came in \u200c2022 in San Diego.<\/p>\n
Shelton rolled to a win in the opening set in 33 minutes. Neither player faced a break point through the first six games before Shelton broke for a 4-3 lead and then got another break to seal the set.<\/p>\n
Serving also dominated the second set of the 1-hour, 27-minute match, with neither player producing a break-point opportunity. The tiebreaker also was controlled by the servers. Shelton finally won a point on Nakashima\u2019s serve for a 4-2 lead \u200cin the tiebreaker, and he closed out the match on Nakashima\u2019s serve, too.<\/p>\n
Cincinnati Open<\/p>\n
Rain interrupted play on the first day of the tournament, but it didn\u2019t stop Great Britain\u2019s Cameron Norrie, who \u200bdowned Croatia\u2019s Dino Prizmic 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in Mason, Ohio.<\/p>\n
Norrie withstood a 25-14 disadvantage on winners, rallying from a first-set loss to take control in the second set. Norrie converted two of three break points in the set and took advantage of seven unforced errors by Prizmic. He then broke Prizmic\u2019s serve in the seventh game of the third set to move in front for good.<\/p>\n
Norrie \u2060might find the going tougher in the second round, where he faces top-seeded Alexander \u200bZverev of Germany.<\/p>\n