Ben Shelton came through a potential banana skin against Joao Fonseca to book his place in the quarter finals of the Canadian Open.
The American is the top seed left in the event and he is looking to defend his Canadian Open from last year after claiming his first-ever Masters title in 2025.
Shelton defeated Fonseca 6-3, 7-6 to knock the Brazilian out and set up a quarter final clash with Jakub Mensik at the Masters tournament.
Despite the straightforward scoreline, Shelton believed he struggle for much of the match against Fonseca, and puts most of that down to the scoreline.
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Speaking at his Canadian Open press conference, the American said: “I think just dealing with the conditions really well. It was super windy. It’s impossible to play clean, pretty tennis with the wind.
“So just problem solve, figure things out. Some bad misses, they’re going to happen on a night like tonight. And just keep coming forward to the net and put the pressure on.”
Shelton has now defeated Jenson Brooksby, Zizou Bergs, and Fonseca to confirm his place in the quarter finals and he is the overwhelming favourite to win the tournament now.
However, he has a worrying record against Mensik ahead of their meeting in the last eight of the Masters event.
Shelton has lost his last two matches against Mensik, which both came during the 2025 season.
He was beaten by the Czech star at the Madrid Open and the ASB Classic last year, while his only victory against Mensik came at Indian Wells in 2024.
Should he find a way past Mensik in the quarter finals, he will play the winner of Learner Tien and Daniel Merida.
The other remaining players left in the draw are Rafael Jodar, Arthur Fils, Luciano Darderi, and Brandon Nakashima.
Shelton is the only player ranked inside the top 10 of the ATP Tour left in the tournament, with the next highest ranked player being world No 13 Jodar.
The American is very unlikely to get a better chance to win a Masters tournament and it could be the perfect preparation for his appearance at the US Open.
With Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner not playing a warm-up event prior to the US Open this year, there could be some real upsets in the first week of the New York Grand Slam.
An American male player has not won the US Open since Andy Roddick lifted the iconic trophy back in 2003, so it has been a long time coming for the nation.
