MONTREAL — Defending National Bank Open men's singles champion Ben Shelton is through to the semifinals after the fifth-seeded American easily defeated Czechia’s Jakub Mensik 6-3, 6-1 Tuesday night at Montreal’s IGA Stadium.
“It was a great night for me,” said Shelton. “I think days like this when everything is clicking is a little bit easier in terms of mentality out on the court.
"I think that it is a lot tougher on the days where you have things that you are struggling with or problems on your side of the net that are difficult to solve.”
Shelton, who hasn't lost a set during the 2026 tournament, reached his 16th career ATP Tour-level semifinal and first on hard courts since his ATP 500 title in Dallas in February.
Shelton also snapped a two-match losing streak against Mensik, with both of those defeats coming last season.
The 23-year-old called Tuesday’s win over Mensik his “most complete performance” of the tournament.
“I knew from the first or second point where we had a 20-ball rally, that I was seeing it pretty well,” added Shelton. “Obviously, in that first game, he played really well, too. I thought it was going to be a war, a slugfest, but I kind of knew going in that I was feeling it."
The match, which was punctuated by those long and intense rallies early, ultimately veered Shelton’s way with the American breaking his opponent in the fifth game of the opening set on a clean winner.
Shelton would break again four games later, taking advantage of a Mensik double fault, his ninth unforced error of the set, to strike first.
The American would immediately break to open the second set, going up 2-0 on a powerful forehand winner down the line. Another break of serve would follow before the match was done.
Mensik finished the match with 16 unforced errors to Shelton’s three. The Czech also committed three double faults, while his opponent only had one.
Shelton will face fellow American Learner Tien in Wednesday night's second semifinal after the No. 12 seed defeated Spain's Daniel Merida 6-3, 6-2 in the late match.
“I think I’ve gotten better and better each match,” said Tien. “Coming into the tournament, I didn’t feel amazing, but I think match by match, I’ve kind of been able to work on things that I want to get better at. Things are coming along.”
Earlier Tuesday, Brandon Nakashima also secured his place in the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Luciano Darderi, giving the United States three men in the semifinals.
With Shelton, Tien and Nakashima all advancing, they became the first American men to occupy three semifinal spots in Canada since Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl and MaliVai Washington in 1992.
“I’m super supportive of all the American players at all times,” said Shelton. “I’ve really enjoyed being able to see how many guys that we’ve had have success. It’s not just been one or two, we’ve kind of spread the wealth around.”
Meanwhile, nineteen-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar defeated France's Arthur Fils 7-6 (5), 6-3 to close out Tuesday’s day session.
The victory improved Jodar to 34-13 in his debut ATP Tour season and lifted him to No. 11 in the live ATP rankings after beginning the year at No. 168. He also became the first man born in 2006 or later to reach a Masters 1000 semifinal.
“My goal is still the same, to improve and discover all the tournaments in my first year on the tour,” said Jodar. “I want to play a lot of matches if it is possible because of the results. That’s it.
"I’m not trying to go up in the rankings. I think that is more secondary and something that shouldn’t be your primary goal.”
Jodar broke Fils early before the Frenchman levelled the opening set. After a one-hour rain delay with Jodar serving at 5-4, the Spaniard claimed the tiebreak and secured the decisive break in the seventh game of the second set.
The win was Jodar's second over Fils in as many tournaments after defeating the Frenchman in Washington, D.C., last week.
Jodar will face Nakashima Wednesday night in what will be the first Masters 1000 semifinal for either player.
"It was a goal of mine at the beginning of the year to try to do well at one of these Masters 1000 tournaments,” said Nakashima. “To be able to do it for the first time here is really special."
Nakashima broke twice in the opening set before earning another break in the eighth game of the second to complete the victory in one hour 17 minutes. He finished with 11 aces to Darderi's two.
The National Bank Open continues with both semifinal singles matches Wednesday night (Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+). The championship match is Thursday.
