Ben Shelton intends to take everything in his stride heading into the tournament where he won the biggest title of his career 12 months ago.
The world No.10 is the defending champion at the Canadian Masters in Montreal and will therefore be defending 1000 ranking points. In last year’s tournament, he defeated Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov en route to the title. Since then, Shelton has claimed another three titles this season – two ATP 500s and one 250.
“I’ve never been somebody who worries too much about defending (a title). It’s just not as much in my nature,” Shelton told reporters on Monday.
“But to be playing in this part of the season and get another opportunity to be playing really good tennis leading into the US Open is kind of my main goal here.”
Following the expansion of Masters 1000 events, the Canadian Open will be followed immediately by the Cincinnati Masters. After this, there will be a week before the US Open starts, with some players opting to also play in Winston-Salem.
Despite the congested schedule, Shelton is relishing the opportunity to play as many matches as possible during this time of the year.
“I think in this swing, three tournaments is the perfect amount. I’d like to get as many matches as possible,” said Shelton, who reached the quarter-finals in Washington last week.
“I probably got a few too many last year going into the US Open. But I think that I’m the type of player, the more matches I play, the better I play, as long as my body can hold up.”
Two notable absentees in Montreal are Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, who both opted to miss the event. Sinner has won every Masters 1000 event this year before pulling out of Montreal. The duo also skipped the event in 2025. Canadian Open tournament director Valerie Tetreault recently said changes should be made to address the “demanding schedule” of players.
“The two-week tournaments — I think there’s a lack of sustainability, for sure, but I don’t know if there’s a different way to go about it,” Shelton commented.
“Jannik knows himself. Novak knows himself. Maybe I would do the same thing if I had won Wimbledon — I didn’t.
“It’s tough to criticise those guys for the decisions that they make throughout the season when they’re trying to sustain a level and maintain their health.
“At the same time, for me, this is one of my favourite parts of the year, one of my best swings, and I don’t want to miss out on playing any of these tournaments.”
