Brandon Nakashima wasn’t able to challenge Ben Shelton‘s dominance at the Canadian Open. The latter successfully defended his title after triumphing 6-3, 7-6 in the final. Despite the defeat, it was still quite a memorable campaign for Nakashima, and he thanked the Montreal crowd for their support throughout the tournament. However, he also surprisingly took a blunt dig at the Toronto crowd in his speech that even left Shelton stunned.

“The support you guys give to the tournament and all the players is really unlike anything else,” he said after the match. “I’m going to be honest, really enjoy here in Montreal more than Toronto. I’m not just saying that because sitting here in the final today, but even before this week, I really enjoyed my time here, thanks to all the people. Feels such like home here, so really appreciate all you guys. Unfortunately, we’ll be back in Toronto next year, but I really look forward to coming back here in two years.”

Shelton had his own thoughts on the two cities, and tried to walk a finer line than his opponent did. It didn’t fully work.

“It’s crazy that we were here a year ago… well, I guess in Toronto,” he said in his winning speech. “I’m not going to say anything bad about Toronto. I love Toronto too. But I love Montreal just as much.”

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The crowd let him hear it for the Toronto comment before he course-corrected into cheers with the Montreal line. Nakashima may not get the same grace next year. He’s played the Toronto edition of the National Bank Open twice, in 2023 and 2025, losing in the first and second rounds respectively, without ever facing hecklers or a hostile crowd there. Montreal has simply treated him better on the court, a Round of 16 run in 2024 followed by this week’s run to the final, and that gap in results may explain the gap in affection more than anything about the cities themselves.

On the court, Shelton left little doubt about who deserved the trophy. The fifth-seeded American didn’t lose his serve once across the entire match, finishing with seven aces and winning 86% of his first-serve points against Nakashima’s eight aces. He broke twice in the first set to close it out comfortably, then survived a tighter second set that went the distance before he pulled away in the tiebreak to seal it 7-4.

The result extends Shelton’s head-to-head dominance over Nakashima to 6-0 and stretches his personal winning streak at the Canadian Open to 12 matches. It’s his fourth title of the season, and it lifts him to a projected world No. 6, while Nakashima’s run to the final still marks a career-high climb to No. 22.

Ben Shelton joins elite list after Montreal triumph

Shelton has become just the fourth man to defend the Canadian Open title this century. He has joined a list that consists of legends like Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal.

Murray was the first-ever player to successfully defend his title as he won both the 2009 and 2010 editions of the tournament. Djokovic won the title in 2011 and 2012, and Nadal clinched it in 2018 and 2019.

Coming back, this was a much-needed triumph for Shelton as he had finished the grass-court season on a low and had suffered a first-round exit at Wimbledon. His performance at the Citi Open was promising, but a defeat in the quarterfinals to Alejandro Tabilo was something no one was expecting.

But the victory in Montreal has once again proven why Shelton is such a dangerous player on hard courts. But the American doesn’t have any time to rest as he is scheduled to begin his Cincinnati Masters campaign on Saturday. His opponent for the first round is yet to be decided.