Unplayable Shelton extends unbeaten Canada run to 10 straight, reaches second Masters 1000 semi-final
Ben Shelton overwhelmed Jakub Mensik 6-3, 6-1, finishing with 18 winners to three unforced errors, to reach a second straight Montreal semi-final and stretch his winning run at the event to 10 matches as he chases a Masters 1000 title defence.
Ben Shelton, Montreal 2026 | © Zuma / PsNewz
American Ben Shelton, the No. 5 seed and defending champion, beat Czech Jakub Mensik, the No. 13 seed, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the Montreal Masters 1000 on Tuesday night, extending his winning run at this event to 10 consecutive matches. Shelton, ranked No. 10, will next play the winner of the match between Spaniard Daniel Merida and No. 12 seed Learner Tien of the United States.
The level was as clean as the scoreline suggested. Shelton finished with 18 winners to just three unforced errors, a ratio that left him with what one stats tracker rated as a performance score of 9.24 out of 10. But Shelton, in a message written to a courtside camera afterward, showed that he’ hungry for more: “Not done yet.”
The win sent Shelton into the second Masters 1000 semi-final of his career, both at this event, making him the first man since Carlos Alcaraz at the 2023 Miami Open to reach the semi-finals while defending his maiden Masters 1000 title.
A stats account also credited him as the fourth man in the last decade to reach his first two Masters 1000 semi-finals at the same event, after Nick Kyrgios in Miami, Diego Schwartzman in Rome and Taylor Fritz in Indian Wells.
Shelton had beaten No. 22 seed Joao Fonseca of Brazil 6-3, 7-6 (3), No. 31 seed Zizou Bergs of Belgium 6-3, 6-2 and American Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 7-5 to reach the same stage. Mensik, ranked No. 17, had defeated Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 7-5, Frenchman Terence Atmane 7-5, 6-4 and Englishman Jacob Fearnley 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the fourth round.
