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Photo by Kathryn Riley/Cincinnati Open American reflects on Montreal title and overall season By Grant Thompson In an ATP Tour social media video published this month, Ben Shelton gave his season a mid-term review: “B-,” the American said, assessing his performance. Consider his triumph in Montreal a save-your-grade type victory. Shelton successfully defended his title at the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 event and less than 24 hours later, Shelton was on the practice court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, beginning his preparation for the Cincinnati Open. “Deja vu, right?” Shelton said on arriving in Ohio fresh off a Canadian trophy; last year in Toronto. “I think that the way that I built my game through the tournament, and all the way to how I was playing level-wise in the final, I’m super happy with that. “It’s been the best tennis that I’ve played, so I’m happy with that.” Perhaps Shelton’s aforementioned review is due for a regrade. He now owns a career-best four titles on the season: Dallas, Munich, Stuttgart and Montreal — at least one on each surface that has brought his total haul to seven tour-level trophies. But a second-round exit at Roland Garros and an opening defeat at Wimbledon may have weighed heavily on that B- . Those setbacks, however, gave the 23-year-old an opportunity to reset. “Sometimes those losses really open your eyes or help you out,” said Shelton, who spent three weeks training in Florida after his short Wimbledon stay. “It helped me identify some things that I really wanted to improve and it also gave me the time to work on those things. I think that was huge for me. I think that just shows that anytime I have a tough loss or early exit and I have the time to go train, to do what I did this time and not really let the loss get to me or discourage me, but more fuel me.” Shelton has experienced hot and cold stretches throughout the 2026 season. That reality mirrors American coach-commentator and ex-player Brad Gilbert’s animated assessment on the slim margins at the highest level. Speaking on the Tennis Insider Club podcast, hosted by former WTA star Caroline Garcia, Gilbert recently said: “There’s five matches a year [in which] there’s nobody you’re going to beat. There’s five matches a year that God himself ain’t beating you,” he hilariously added. What happens in those 50/50 matches in between, Gilbert argued, ultimately shapes a player’s ranking, a notion Shelton seemed to accept. “Becoming a great player is about raising your floor. When I’m playing at my ceiling, my very best tennis, it’s going to be hard for anyone to beat me,” Shelton said. “I think that’s the way it is for all the top guys when they are playing their absolute best, it’s really tough to beat them. “It’s the days that you’re not feeling it as much — those 40 percent days, 70 percent days, all those in the middle — if you’re able to raise your floor level, and you’re still able to come out with wins, I think that’s the important part for me.” As a result of his Montreal title, Shelton surged to No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings, reclaiming American No. 1 honors from Taylor Fritz. Now the big-serving lefty returns to Cincinnati, seeking to lift the Rookwood Cup for the first time. “My body was a lot more fried last year,” said Shelton, in his fifth consecutive appearance at the tournament where he made his ATP Masters 1000 debut as World No. 229 in 2022. “I’m in a good place physically.”