Ben Shelton issues statement after match halted to leave him absolutely baffled

Ben Shelton has opened up on the moment he was left stunned during the Canadian Open final against Karen Khachanov. He came from behind to secure his maiden Masters triumph, battling back from a set down to secure a 6-7 6-4 7-6 victory. It saw Shelton become the youngest American player to win an ATP 1000 tournament in two decades.

At one point during the match, he was left visibly stunned when the crowd broke out into a round of spontaneous applause. It lasted for several minutes and play did not resume until things had settled down. Shelton looked extremely confused and held up his arms to umpire Fergus Murphy, asking: "What's going on?"

It soon transpired that fans in the arena had learned of Victoria Mboko's sensational victory over Naomi Osaka in the women's final. Mboko, who had to go through qualifying to feature in the main draw, produced a huge upset to claim her first WTA title.

Responding to Shelton's query, Murphy replied: "I guess the Canadian player has won in Montreal." The former was not deterred by the interruption, quickly regaining his composure and winning the match.

Afterwards, he took to Instagram to congratulate Mboko and explain why he was so confused. He wrote: "Congrats on the title @vickymboko. I had no idea what was going on at the time but Toronto went nuts for you."

Mboko, who will celebrate her 19th birthday later this month, is set to climb into the world's top 25 when the rankings are updated on Monday. Heading into the Canadian Open, she was ranked outside the top 500.

She is also likely to receive a seeded spot for the US Open, which begins on August 24. The young Canadian will be hoping to follow up on her maiden WTA triumph by going deep into the tournament at Flushing Meadows.

Speaking after her victory over Osaka, Mboko said: "I was super happy to be playing in Montreal for the first time ever. I just remember feeling nervous, but really taking in the moment as much as I possibly could.

"When I won my first round, I was super happy and super content. I would have never thought that I would have made it to the final, let alone win the tournament. I have so many emotions going through my head, I can't even express it."

Shelton, meanwhile, described his campaign in Toronto as the 'perfect storm' as he reflected on beating Khachanov in the final.

"A lot of tight matches, long matches, played some of the best tennis that I've played this year," he added. "To finish out the week the way that I did, especially with the opponent that I had today and the way that he was playing, I couldn't be happier."

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