The defending champion turns up
Sixty-odd minutes. That is all Ben Shelton needed to make his point in Montreal. The American brushed aside Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-2 to book his place in the last 16, and there was no warm-up lap about it.
The serve did the heavy lifting and the forehand mopped up whatever was left. Bergs barely got a foothold. Shelton is defending his title in Canada, and this was the reminder, stamped in his own style.
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At the top, the draw is falling apart
The seeds are tumbling. Alexander Zverev has already been shown the door by Tallon Griekspoor. Taylor Fritz followed him out, undone by Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante. One by one, the big names keep disappearing.
Shelton, by contrast, is strolling through as if he holds the lease on the place. His side of the draw is thinning by the day. The opening is right there in front of him.
Plenty of road still to run
Nobody lifts a Masters 1000 after two rounds, so let’s not get carried away. What the American has banked already, though, is the stuff that matters: rhythm on serve, a calm head, belief.
The next round is the real question. Can he hold this gear when a genuine test arrives? Right now he is barely breaking sweat.
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