Ben Shelton Beats Learner Tien to Set Up All-American Final vs Brandon Nakashima

Ben Shelton survives scare and steamrolls Tien to reach Canadian Open final

Payback Complete: Ben Shelton downs Learner Tien to defend Canadian Open crown.

Shelton reaches Canadian Open final after win over Tien, faces Nakashima...

Defending champion Ben Shelton bounced back from a rough fall into the backcourt boards to cruise past Learner Tien 6-2, 6-3 and book his spot in the ATP Montreal Masters final on Wednesday.

Shelton lifted the trophy in Toronto last year at the ATP Masters 1000 event that swaps host cities. He’ll now go for back-to-back titles in Canada, facing fellow American Brandon Nakashima in Thursday’s championship match.

Brandon Nakashima edged past Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final. It’s the first all-American Masters final since 2003 in Cincinnati, when Mardy Fish faced Andy Roddick.

“It means a lot, so many American guys in the mix,” Shelton said.

A trainer came out to treat Shelton in the second set after he cut his left elbow and the skin between his fingers and needed the bleeding stopped.

He pushed past the pain to get revenge on Tien, who had won both of their earlier matches.

“I played four good return points after the timeout; I was not feeling anything except the sting of the medicine,” Shelton said.

“I'm super happy with the performance. Learner presents a lot of problems to my game. He's a challenge to overcome.

“Learner presents a lot of problems to my game. He's a challenge to overcome,” Shelton said. “He can jerk you around the court. I had to play intelligent tennis. The final will be a war and I'll leave it all out on the court.”

Shelton is chasing a fourth title in 2026 after already winning on three different surfaces: indoor in Dallas, clay in Munich, and grass in Stuttgart.

He also holds a perfect 5-0 record against Nakashima, with one of those wins coming in Toronto last year.

Nakashima needed two hours to get past Jodar, with the second set alone taking 66 minutes.

The Spanish rising star, who made the Washington final earlier this month and is expected to break into the top 10 soon, fended off four match points. But Nakashima finally sealed it with an ace on his fifth chance, wrapping up a 10-minute final game that went to six deuces.

“That final game was crazy,” Nakashima, 25, said. “It was super-tight. We both had to keep fighting.

“I was lucky I was hitting my spots on serve, it paid off today. I'm happy to get through that one.”

Nakashima heads into his first Masters final feeling confident, especially with his serve and forehand firing.

“I'm just trusting it and swinging through on every ball,” he said. “When I connect with it, (my forehand) is one of my best shots. I'm happy it paid off today.”

Nakashima is set for the fifth final of his career, and it’s easily the biggest one yet.

He’d only played in ATP 250 finals before this.

Jodar said he’s taking “a lot of positive things” away from Montreal as he prepares for the US Open, which starts August 31st.

He also said tiredness wasn’t an issue, even after going deep in both Washington and Canada and racking up a lot of matches.

“It wasn't about that. I was feeling good,” he said. “I was trying to play my game the whole match.

“He played especially the important points of the match better than me, and that's one of the reasons why he won the match today.”