Ben Shelton and Flavio Cobolli will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers when they battle for the BMW Open title on Sunday afternoon.
Shelton leads the head-to-head series 3-2, winning all three of their 2025 encounters after falling to Cobolli twice in 2024. The American prevailed 7-6(4), 7-6(4) in Acapulco, survived a contentious 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(1) thriller on his way to the Toronto title, and most recently scored a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory at the Paris Masters. All five of their meetings have either gone to a final set or featured at least one tiebreaker.
Another fun one should be in the cards with both guys playing great tennis. Although Cobolli has been far from consistent this season, his good weeks have been very good. The world No. 16 captured the title in Acapulco and is back in another ATP 500 final thanks to Munich wins over Diego Dedura, Zizou Bergs, Vit Kopriva, and Alexander Zverev. Cobolli was incredibly impressive throughout his 6-3, 6-3 semifinal upset of Zverev.
Success at the 500-point level is also nothing new for Shelton. Two of his four ATP titles and both of his runner-up finishes have come in 500s, including 12 months ago at this same Munich event (lost to Zverev). The world No. 6 is a solid 16-5 for his 2026 campaign and has advanced this week by taking out Emilio Nava, Alexander Blockx, Joao Fonseca, and Alex Molcan. Only his semifinal match against Molcan was routine.
Shelton may be the favorite on paper, but Cobolli has been the best player in Munich all week long. The world No. 16 has not dropped a single set and has not even been pushed to a tiebreaker. On a surface that slightly favors Cobolli, look for him to improve to 2-0 against Shelton on clay and cap off his amazing week in style.
Pick: Cobolli in 3
WWW?
Cobolli 67 64 76
Bizarre fact : An Italian who saves his best tennis for 500s in Germany.
Cobolli does look awfully on fire, as well as being quicker around the court because he’s 14 kg lighter than Big Ben.
I wonder if Cobolli will be visiting the Hofbräuhaus to celebrate.🍻🥨
Shelton in 3 7-6 4-6 6-3
Yeah, Ben in 3 – final set tiebreaker
Big Ben…in 2!!!
Tennishead dont say nothing?
The match played out like I thought, I had Shelton in 2 because Cobolli came off the biggest win in his career in terms of ranking and how emotional he got after it, figured he’d probably have a let down and at least come out flat in the final.
So it turns out it’s Shelton who will have to go to the Hofbräuhaus to celebrate.🍻🥨
I recommend avoiding the Weisswurst.🤢
Well done to Ben. He did so well at the net too, especially considering the mass he’s moving around to do it!
Maybe Cobolli had been on the beer the night before so he lost..it happens
😄
Or maybe too much grappa in the morning coffee!😜
Two clay titles to his name, and I forgot how well he did at RG
Looking forward to Madrid where the conditions should suit him to a tee…
yeah Madrid should be PERFECT for Shelton
(altho it has not been in the past)
The US number one ranking will IMO go from Fritz to Shelton before too long. That was very well played!
Oh! I just had a look at the ATP rankings and it seems already to have happened!💫