Ben Shelton beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in an all-American final at the BOSS Open on Sunday afternoon.
It was a rematch of the Dallas final from earlier this season, when Shelton saved three championship points to defeat Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Ironically, Shelton fought off a total of three match points on his way to the Stuttgart trophy — one in his opening match against Marcos Giron and two against Jiri Lehecka in the semis. The fifth-ranked American won all four of his matches this week in three sets, including three from a set down.
“It means a lot to me,” Shelton assured. “Certainly a difficult week, not an easy week to get through. I’m pretty exhausted, but to play the way I did against the quality of opponents I played in very tight matches and getting a win today against one of the best grass-court players in the world is a huge boost for my confidence. I’m just happy to get my first title here in Stuttgart.”
It is the 23-year-old’s sixth title overall and third this season, and he is now 6-2 all time in ATP finals.
At the Libema Open, Kamil Majchrzak became a first-time ATP champion by beating Alex de Minaur 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5). Although Majchrzak got broken at 4-3 in the third set, he recovered in the ensuing tiebreaker. De Minaur temporarily erased a double-mini break deficit and saved one championship point at 4-6, but he double-faulted at 5-6 to end it.
“I don’t know what to say,” Majchrzak admitted. “This is an incredible moment for me and an incredible fun and run to make this happen,” Majchrzak said. “Alex is one of the toughest opponents you can face, so I knew I had to play my best to win and I think I did for the most part of the match. I am really grateful for this moment and will really enjoy it so much. Thanks to everyone who came here. It has been unbelievable.”
With Sunday’s results, Shelton stays ahead of De Minaur by 50 points for the No. 5 ranking and the all-important No. 4 seed at Wimbledon.
nice one, Ben
Way to go, Ben…and YES, I picked him to win!
Same here!! Big Ben