Shelton successfully begins his title defense campaign in Montreal with Aliassime's withdrawal

American Ben Shelton, ranked tenth in the world, successfully launched his title defense at the Canadian Masters 1000 in Montreal by defeating compatriot Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 7-5 in the first round on Wednesday.

Shelton, the fifth seed in the tournament, will face Belgian Zizou Bergs in the round of 16. Bergs defeated Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Shelton won the first set without much difficulty in 39 minutes, capitalizing on breaking Brooksby’s serve at 5-3 in the eighth game. He then closed out the set on his own serve at 6-3 in the ninth, after saving a break point that Brooksby had created.

However, the defending champion exerted extra effort in the second set. Brooksby took a 3-1 lead by breaking Shelton’s serve in the fourth game, and then extended his advantage to 4-1 on his own serve in the fifth.

Shelton narrowed the gap to 2-4 on his serve, broke back to make it 3-4 in the seventh game, and then leveled the score at 4-4 on his serve in the next game.

Shelton secured a second break in the eleventh game to lead 6-5, and then sealed the match in the following game, converting his first match point to win 7-5.

Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, the second seed in the tournament held on home soil, withdrew due to a back injury sustained during training.

Norway’s Casper Ruud easily defeated Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerúndulo 6-1, 6-2, setting up a meeting with Brazil’s João Fonseca, who beat Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 in one hour and 52 minutes.

In one of the biggest upsets of the round so far, American Taylor Fritz, ranked ninth in the world and last week’s champion in Washington, lost to Argentina’s Thiago Agustín Tirante 5-7, 3-6.

France’s Arthur Fils overcame American Zachary Svajda 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, and will face Argentina’s Mariano Navone in the next round. Navone defeated Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.