Ben Shelton Begins Montreal Title Defence With Eyes On US Open

Shelton starts Montreal defence 

Ben Shelton targets US Open form in Montreal, Monfils wins final appearance. Not dwelling on points’ says Shelton kicks off Montreal defence.

Defending champion Shelton targets US Open form as he starts Montreal title defence, Monfils moves on...

Ben Shelton is determined not to waste any opportunities as he kicks off the defence of his ATP Montreal Masters title, with his sights set on peaking in time for the US Open.

The final Grand Slam of the year gets underway on August 31 in New York, and the American has mapped out a busy build-up: Washington last week, followed by Montreal and Cincinnati.

“Three tournaments is the perfect amount. I'd like to get as many matches as possible,” the fifth seed said on a rainy Monday that saw the start of play delayed several hours with more afternoon rain interruptions.

“I'm the type of player, the more matches I play, the better I play, as long as my body can hold up,” Shelton added.

“It's a great three-tournament run before having a week off leading up to the US Open. I'm just kind of going for it.”

In completed first-round action, French veteran Gael Monfils began his final Montreal appearance with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak.

Playing in his last year on the ATP Tour, Monfils lifted a rain-delayed late-night crowd. He reeled off four straight games to go 5-2 up in the second set.

He was broken while serving for the match the first time around, but closed it out on his next attempt. That sets up a second-round clash with 12th seed Learner Tien.

“I felt like I played well,” Monfils said.

“I was serving really good, tried to be very accurate with my first serve and then second serve tried to be super aggressive and then use my forehand. I felt more and more I could hold his pace.”

Monfils bounced back from his opening-round loss at Roland Garros, beating Majchrzak in 1 hour and 38 minutes. The Pole had lifted his first ATP title at ’s-Hertogenbosch back in June.

Italy’s former top-10 player Matteo Berrettini made his return from an abdominal injury in his first match since Wimbledon, but fell 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 to Argentina’s Mariano Navone.

The 12-day tournament is without world No.1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic.

French Open champion and Wimbledon finalist Alexander Zverev heads the draw as top seed, with Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime also in the mix.

ATP No.10 Shelton, who made the Washington quarterfinals last week, said the extended format isn’t an issue for him, even as the longer schedule continues to draw criticism.

Shelton Peaking At The Right Time

“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,” he said.

“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.”

“If you're always thinking about defending or what week that you made points or didn't make points, it's easy to kind of get lost in your mind,” he said.

“That's why I like to just think about my body of work for this year, 2026, what I'm doing and what I want to accomplish by the end of the year.

“To get another opportunity to be playing really good tennis leading into the US Open is kind of my main goal here.

“I'm looking forward to getting out there again.”

Shelton said he isn’t worrying about defending the 1,000 ranking points he earned with his 2025 title win in Canada.