Rafael Jódar and Brandon Nakashima met in the quarterfinals of the 2026 National Bank Open in Montreal, not the semifinals. On the tournament’s hard courts, Nakashima won 7-6(3), 6-4 to advance. The straight-sets result set up an all-American semifinal against Ben Shelton.
Nakashima beat Shelton 6-3, 7-6(4), earning a place in his first ATP Masters 1000 final. Shelton went on to win the championship, completing a title defence without dropping a set. The final was the first all-American men’s championship match in Canada since 1995, information from TennisNow’s tournament coverage.
The Montreal run came during a strong North American hard-court stretch for Nakashima. TennisNow reported that he went 12-3 during the summer swing and also reached the semifinals in Cincinnati and Washington, D.C. His win over Jódar helped secure the all-American final; it was a quarterfinal key stage on the way to Nakashima’s first Masters 1000 championship match.
The ATP Masters 1000 series is one of the tour’s highest-level categories outside the Grand Slams. Montreal’s hard-court event is part of the Canadian Open, which alternates its men’s and women’s competitions between Montreal and Toronto. Shelton’s successful defence placed him among four men in the 21st century to repeat as Canadian champion. Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are among them, as is Rafael Nadal.
