Canadian Open Men’s final preview

The 22-year-old Shelton, who entered the event as the fourth seed, brushed off countryman Taylor Fritz in a dominant 6-4, 6-3 display in the semi-finals to book his first-ever career major final.

Meanwhile, Russian Karen Khachanov defeated number 1 seed and pre-race favorite Alexander Zverev 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 in a marathon match that lasted for over three hours. 

For the first time, Shelton has an ATP 1000 final and, no doubt, the biggest match of his career. Coming into the match against Fritz, Shelton remained calm throughout despite being put under immense pressure by the opponent. Known for a big serve, Shelton came into the match with the strategy to hit hard to force Fritz into committing the mistakes. In the end, the 26-year-old Fritz made three double faults. Even though Shelton’s game plan worked in his favor, there are areas he has to improve on. His movement on court is not convincing, and he will have to strike a balance, especially facing an athletic player like Khachanov in the final. 

The amazing thing is that Shelton has managed to grow to be a better player as the tournament continues. In the beginning he nearly suffered an early exit in round 32 to Brandon Nakashima, coming out on top in a gritty 7-6, 2-6, 6-7 in a hotly contested match. That was not the end, as in round 16 against Flavio Cobolli, he prevailed 4-6, 6-4, and 6-7 to seal a quarter-finals phase. The Shelton-Cobolli clash got fans talking as players exchanged words on court in what was fueled by a trickery of mind games. 

Afterwards, Shelton has bounced back with strong performances, topping former Canadian Open finalist Alex De Minaur 3-6, 4-6 in the last eight fixtures. Now she faces a stern test in Khachanov to win a first major of his promising career. Besides this big tournament, Shelton has been solid this year, having reached the Australian Open quarter-finals. With the crowd in Montreal going to be on his side, Shelton will take that as a huge boost on his quest for glory. Meanwhile, Khachanov returns to the ATP 1000 final for the second time in 7 years. The last time was back in 2018, when he won the Paris Masters. The 29-year-old Russian has found his feet after riding on a torrid form in the last two years. 

The semi-final match against Zverev, Khachanov showed the world what he is capable of. He delivered the classic performance against a very top hard-court player. The signs of coming back into form laid a foundation during the Wimbledon Open, where she reached the quarter-finals phase for the first time in her career. He will also rise inside the Top 10 ATP rankings for the first time in two years. This is the second time both players face each other in the Masters event. In March, Shelton delivered an outstanding performance to outclass the opponent in 6-3, 7-5 in the Indian Wells 3rd round match. But there is so much that has changed, with both players having improved drastically. Plus, they enter the final in good shape, as they lost two sets. Nevertheless, the match promises fireworks.

Prediction:

Shelton will have a slight edge over Khachanov with the crowd pushing him to go over the line. But Khachanov will not go down without a fight. Except Shelton to win in three sets.