Fritz, Shelton to face off for Stuttgart honours

Taylor Fritz will hope to become the first since Thomas Musters to defend his title at the ATP Stuttgart event after booking a final against US compatriot Ben Shelton.

 Austrian Muster, a monster on the former clay surface here three decades ago, lifted the title in Germany’s car-making capital in 1995 and 1996 when it was played in late summer.

With the event at the Weissenhof club now the opening week of pre-Wimbledon grass play, the parameters have totally changed.

Fritz backed up his 2025 title performance by booking a second straight final thanks to a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Alexander Bublik in 69 minutes, backed up by 13 aces.

Shelton, a semi-finalist a year ago, defeated Jiri Lehecka after nearly three hours 6-7 (4), 7-6 (14), 7-6 (6).

The final will be a rematch of the Dallas final four years ago won by Shelton.

Bublik handed over a double-fault on match point as Fritz advanced.

“I’m really happy to be back in the final here. I had to fight hard in the first two matches, so it’s hard to believe I’ve reached the final,” Fritz said.

“It’s always cool to defend a title. But much more importantly, a tournament win would mean a good start to the grass-court season. I always feel very comfortable here in Stuttgart; it’s almost like a home game.”

Shelton had to finish off a rain-interrupted quarter-final from a day earlier over Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro before then taking on Lehecka.

The American saved a pair of Czech match points in the second set and still needed eight set points of his own to get the match level at a set each before winning the third to advance.

“I’m speechless, it’s a short grass-court season, so I try to spend as much time as possible at the court,” Shelton joked.

“A tennis match doesn’t always go according to plan. I lost the first set, which makes it more difficult. But there are many ways to win a match. 

“I obviously chose the most complicated one here. My opponents always played great tennis, 

“I’m very tired, but I’m looking forward to playing my second final this year against Taylor . Every time we play against each other, it’s a lot of fun.”