AAP Tennis

Shelton beats Fritz in Stuttgart for first grass title

By AAP Newswire

Jun 15, 2026

Top seed Ben Shelton denied Taylor Fritz back to back titles at the Stuttgart Open when he won the all-American final 6-4, 4-2, 6-4 for his first career grass court title.

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Shelton triumphed on first match point having recovered superbly from a difficult second set to claim a one-hour, 48-minute victory on a packed centre court.

He won the opening set for the first time of the week but eventually had to go the full distance again to get the better of Fritz for the third time in their fourth meeting.

He won a final between the two for the second time this year following the Dallas event in February. Having also won in Munich on clay in Aptil, he now has three 2026 titles and six overall.

"Taylor for a period of the match today was completely unplayable," Shelton said.

"Getting a win today against one of the best grass-court players in the world is a huge boost for my confidence."

Fritz was bidding to become the first man in three decades to win the tournament in successive years. The last man to do so was Austrian Thomas Muster in 1995 and 1996 when the event was played on clay.

Shelton and Fritz now head to another big grass tune-up event in Germany in Halle where Shelton has been drawn to face Australia's former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios in the first round.