National Bank Open
Ben Shelton became the first man to successfully defend the National Bank Open in a decade, beating Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 7-6(4) in Montreal, while Iga Świątek won the tournament for the first time with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Elena Rybakina in Toronto. Two finals, two very different routes, and one shared theme: the players who started the fortnight as favourites were mostly gone long before the trophies were handed out.
Montreal: Shelton Backs It Up
Ben Shelton arrived as defending champion in a draw stripped of its biggest names — Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz all sat it out, and top seed Alexander Zverev lost in the second round to Tallon Griekspoor. That left no top-five player in the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for only the second time since 1990, and it left Shelton, seeded fifth, as the highest seed standing.
He did not drop a set from the last 16 onwards. João Fonseca went first, then Jakub Menšík 6-3, 6-1, then Learner Tien 6-2, 6-3 in the semi-finals. The final followed the same pattern: an early break, a first set banked 6-3, and then a tie-break settled 7-4 when Nakashima had worked his way back level.
Brandon Nakashima loses the final but leaves with the best week of his career. The San Diego right-hander, who turned 25 during the tournament, had never been beyond the third round of a Masters 1000. He beat Arthur Rinderknech, Luciano Darderi and then Rafael Jódar 7-6(3), 6-4 to reach a first Masters final at 27 attempts, and pushed Shelton to a second-set tie-break in it.
Toronto: Świątek Completes the Set
Iga Świątek had never won in Canada and had reached only one previous semi-final at the event, in 2023. She was seeded seventh here. She leaves with the title, and she took it without losing a set in the final week.
The run was built on a quarter-final that took 64 minutes — Diana Shnaider dispatched 6-2, 6-1 — after she had come from a set down against Marta Kostyuk in the last 16. Elina Svitolina went 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals, and then Rybakina was beaten 6-2, 6-3 in a final that never really tightened.
For Elena Rybakina it is a second straight hard-court final lost. She had the harder path — three sets against Naomi Osaka in the quarter-finals, then three more against Coco Gauff from a set down in the semis — and it showed. The defeat also swings their head-to-head, which Świątek now leads 7-6 after 13 meetings, ahead for the first time since 2024.
The two players who headed the draw both went early: world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka lost in the fourth round to Ekaterina Alexandrova, and third seed Jessica Pegula was beaten in straight sets by Shnaider. Defending champion Victoria Mboko never started, withdrawing with a knee injury.
What It Means for Cincinnati
All four finalists go straight into the Cincinnati Open, whose main draw is already under way, and all four are seeded into the second round: Rybakina at No. 2, Świątek at No. 7 as defending champion there, Shelton at No. 8 and Nakashima at No. 27. None of them will have had more than a day off.
The Cincinnati men’s draw is missing more than Montreal’s was. Alcaraz withdrew on 4 August with a wrist injury and Sinner on 9 August with a knee problem, leaving Zverev as top seed ahead of Félix Auger-Aliassime and Djokovic. Naomi Osaka pulled out of the women’s draw citing fatigue.
More Coverage
- National Bank Open hub — the full guide
- Finals preview · Past champions
- Cincinnati Open · US Open · 2026 tennis calendar