Shelton stuns Khachanov to win Toronto title

Ben Shelton brought an end to an American title drought in Canada which had lasted for 22 years, with his 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3) defeat of Karen Khachanov on Thursday to win the Toronto Masters title.

The last from the US to lift the trophy north of the border was Andy Roddick in 2003 – also the last Yank to win a Grand Slam title (2003 US Open).

the 22-year-old Shelton, now owner of three career trophies, will rise to sixth in the world, displacing Novak Djokovic.

The winner fought through a momentum shifting final lasting for just under three hours, finally claiming the win with a runaway final-set tiebreaker where he led 5-2 and finished off the win on his second match point as Khachanov hit the net with a return.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” he said. “It’s been a long week. It was not an easy path to the finals. “But my best tennis just came out when it mattered the most.”

For the second night in a row in Canada, the infamous electronic line calling system went AWOL resulting in a six minute delay in the second set and discussion among the players and chair umpire Fergus Murphy about how to play on with no automatic audio voices to call the lines.

An emergency rese apparently solved the New-Age problem as the pair quickly resumed. 

“I was clutch, I persevered,it was brilliant, I’m developing qualities that will help in tennis and in life,” Shelton said of his winning peformance.

“Karen was bullying me around the court, I felt like a freight train coming at me. The balls were coming fast but I was able to redirect.

“I hit some big shots and flipped the momentum of the match.”