ATP Tour

Shelton saves 2 MPs vs. Lehecka, sets Fritz final in Stuttgart

Ben Shelton dug deep once again on Saturday at the BOSS OPEN, where he saved two match points to earn a dramatic semi-final win against Jiri Lehecka in Stuttgart.

The No. 5 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Shelton rallied for a thrilling 6-7(4), 7-6(14), 7-6(6) victory to secure his place in the championship match at the grass-court ATP 250 event. After completing his quarter-final win over Sho Shimabukuro on Saturday morning, the top seed returned in the evening to set an all-American final with defending champion Taylor Fritz.

“Sometimes tennis doesn’t go to plan,” Shelton said after his third three-set win of the week. “I lost the first set in every single match I played. That can make things difficult, but there are a lot of ways to win a match. I’ve been choosing the most difficult route, but my opponents have played great matches. Shoutout to Jiri. I thought he played an outstanding match today. I thought the level was really high.”

Although Lehecka saved all five break points he faced, the Czech was unable to stop Shelton in the tight moments. The American No. 1 saved the first match point on return at 5/6 in the second-set tie-break with a stunning play at the net to outfox Lehecka.

Shelton’s reward for his courageous two-hour, 52-minute win is an intriguing showdown with countryman Fritz. Shelton leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 2-1, having saved three championship points in their most recent encounter in the Dallas final in February.

“I’m very tired, but excited to be playing him in another final,” said Shelton, who is chasing his third title of the season. “It’s our second final against each other this year. He’s one of the top American guys I’ve always looked up to. Anytime that we get to share the court is a lot of fun.”

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Earlier, Fritz returned to the Stuttgart final with a dominant 6-4, 6-4 win against Alexander Bublik.

After coming through two three-set matches, the defending champion Fritz delivered a composed semi-final display to overwhelm Bublik in just 68 minutes. The American is now the first reigning champion to reach the Stuttgart final since Thomas Muster won back-to-back titles in 1995-96, when the tournament was held on clay.

“I had to really fight through the first couple matches, and it feels crazy that it’s already the final,” Fritz said. “It’s always cool to defend a title. To get my first title of the year, like I did here last year, would be a great way to get the grass season started.”

Fritz slammed 13 aces and won 78 per cent (31/40) of points behind his first serve against Bublik, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The World No. 9 is aiming to win his first title of the season after falling short to Shelton in the ATP 500 final in Dallas.

“I really like being rewarded for taking risks and hitting good shots,” Fritz said when asked about his love for grass. “I think it's great for my serve and it suits my backhand. I return pretty bad on every other surface anyway, so I feel like I return the same on grass and that’s not bad.”

After levelling his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Bublik at 4-4, Fritz can now turn his attention to a 21st tour-level final. He will face top seed Shelton or Jiri Lehecka.