Preview Canadian Open ATP Final: Ben Shelton on quest for first 1000 title against reviving Karen Khachanov

This proved that it did not take long for Shelton to adapt to the new surface, and he was raring to go in Toronto. He breezed past Adrian Mannarino before edging out fellow American Brandon Nakashima and the 13th seed Flavio Cobolli in three sets, coming in clutch in a deciding tiebreak across both ties.

Since the close tussle against the Italian, Shelton has gone up a level, defeating Australian number one Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 in a dominant performance before he took down the inform American number one Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3. Across the two games, he was only broken once.

His serving and big forehand have caught the eye of many this week, unleashing some massive shots to leave his opponent with no choice other than watching it fly by them. Shelton has amassed an incredible record when claiming the first set, coming out on top in 26 of his last 27 matches when clawing himself ahead. It is an ominous sign for his opponent when they go on the court.

Khachanov back to his best

It is looking like the Russian has found his best form again, after having reached his first final of the year. In his previous two tournaments, he got to a semi-final at Halle and a Wimbledon quarter-final, having been defeated by world number four Fritz. His resurgence has pushed him up to 12th in the world, and a second Masters 1000 title tonight would put him back in the top 10 for the first time since 2019, after he reached a high of 8th in the world.

In his first hard-court tournament after Wimbledon, he has got up and running extremely fast, not hesitating in making an early mark in the upcoming hard court season. This final is his 11th at the highest level, with an impressive 70% win ratio in the first 10 he has competed in.

To make it 8/11, he is under pressure to carry on the form he has portrayed this week. He started off his Toronto campaign with a straight sets victory over qualifier Juan Pablo Ficovich before coming back from behind to knockout Emilio Nava to set up a tie with the three-time Grand-Slam runner-up Casper Ruud.

It was a dominant and controlled display from Khachanov, who defeated the Norwegian in his second competition after Roland Garros and first on hard court. Another tricky test would come his way in the quarter-final, but Khachanov was up to the challenge of Alex Michelsen, picking up another straight set win. The best was yet to come, as the Russian avenged his Olympic final defeat in 2021 to take down the number three in the world and top seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4). In the process, the German failed to take his sole match point, allowing the Russian to fight back for the win.

Like many of the players who have had a deep run in Toronto, Khachanov has utilised his big serve and groundstrokes to get past his opponents. Overall, Shelton is the better all-round player, which could give him the slight advantage going into the final. Both players have proved they are excellent problem-solvers, multiple times finding a hole out of a sticky situation.

The pair have met just once, at Indian Wells back in the last 32 back in March. Shelton came out on top 6-3, 7-5 in a closely-fought affair, in which Khachanov missed a break point to stay in the match. Shelton will be hoping for a similar result tonight, but will need to be at his best to defeat the resurging Russian.