ATP Tour

Shelton, Fritz maintain grass-court momentum with Halle R1 wins

Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz continue to enjoy their summer outings on the German grass.

The two Americans each began their title bid at the Terra Wortmann Open on Wednesday with a first-round victory in Halle. Shelton, who on Sunday lifted his first ATP Tour title on grass at the BOSS OPEN in Stuttgart, improved to 5-0 on the surface for the season by easing past Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 6-3 inside heristo-arena.

“It’s certainly different from any grass that I’ve played on, but I enjoyed it,” Shelton, who was playing in Halle for the first time, said after his 80-minute victory. “I think you get a lot out of playing aggressive tennis here, coming forwards and serving and volleying. It’s nice to see it pay off when you’re brave and take your opportunities to come to the net. I thought I volleyed great today.

“Obviously, a new tournament and a new place, so not everything was perfect. I didn’t have a great serving day, but things to continue to try and improve on.”

The No. 5 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Shelton will take on his countryman Ethan Quinn for a quarter-final spot in Halle. Having already won titles in Dallas and Munich this year, the 23-year-old Shelton is this week bidding to become the first player to win crowns on hard, clay and grass in ATP 500 series history (since 2009).

Meanwhile Fritz, who reached the Stuttgart final before falling to Shelton, marked his first appearance in Halle since 2019 with a gritty 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4 win against Zizou Bergs. Fritz saved four of six break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats, while he also served 16 aces to Bergs’ 15 in a big-serving encounter.

“It was a tough one. First set I did really well to get back in after the first game and saved some break points," Fritz said. "I played a very good tie-breaker I thought. Second set, I had some chances and played some good points… He just played a bit better and played a very good game to break me. I was happy in the third to take advantage of a game where he threw some double [faults] in and gave me a bit more of a look. Luckily that’s all I needed.”

Fritz will face Fabian Marozsan in the second-round in Halle, where Frances Tiafoe made it a trio of American victories early on Wednesday afternoon. The 28-year-old downed Sho Shimabukuro 6-4, 7-5 to become the first player to book his last-eight spot in north-west Germany.

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev also advanced to the last eight on a good day for seeded players in Halle. Second seed Auger-Aliassime rallied from 3/5 in the deciding-set tie-break to edge Learner Tien 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5). The Canadian, a semi-finalist in Halle in 2021, will meet Tiafoe for a semi-final spot.

Fourth seed Medvedev eased past Terence Atmane 6-4, 6-4 in the final match of the day to reach his fourth quarter-final in the past five editions of the Terra Wortmann Open. The former World No. 1 will play Daniel Altmaier in the last eight, after the home favourite rallied past 2022 champion Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.