ATP
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.”
Laver Cup debutant Lerner Tien showed he’s fast on the rebound as the American took inspiration from coach Andre Agassi to level the Laver cup score a 3-3 with a Saturday win in London over Flavio Cobolli.
Tien, at 20 a young gun on the Rest of the World side, defeated Italy’s Roland Garros finalist 6-3, 2-6, 10-7.
With Day 2 win counting two points each, the victory in 97 minutes put teammates Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz on level-pegging heading into their later singles tests against Europe.
World has won four of the previous five titles in the exhibition run by Roger Federer’s management group in honor of the Swiss icons tennis idol, Rod Laver..
Tien, who won the spring Geneva ATP title, said he has to make a major reset after losing the second set to Cobolli, fighting back to win the match tiebreak third set at the O2.
“I can reset pretty easily,” the No. 13 said. “In this format, the score does not matter so much. Everyone always had a chance.
“To put the second set behind me was pretty good.”
Tien dropped serve twice in the second set after winning the first. But his deciding set fightback made the difference for his side.
“I just went into lockdown, there are some moments where the ball if just there to go for it. It was still tough to get through.”
The youngster gave full credit to Agassi for his inspiration. “Andre has given me more knowledge than everyone combined. It’s good to have a voice like that on the sidelines encouraging you. It’s very helpful.”
Casper Ruud and Rafa Jodar combined to start and finish Friday’s opening stage of the Laver Cup as their victories sent Europe into a 2-1 lead over Rest of the World in London.
Norway’s Ruud began day 1 play with a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 10-8 defeat of Argentina Francisco Cerundolo while Spanish prodigy Jodar finished off the programme 6-2, 6-4 ovr Alexander Bublik in a winning debut at the team exhibition conceptualised by Roger Federer in 2017 to hour is tennis hero Rod Laver.
Jodar, who turned 20 only days ago, spent 84 minutes in adding a point for Europe coached by French legend Yannick Noah and earning his own 38th match win of this breakthrough season.
“It was a pleasure to represent Team Europe for the first time. I felt great on court. I played against a tough player… I think the atmosphere was great, so thank you everyone for coming” the winner said.
The unpredictable Bublik was unable to match it with the Spanish youngster ranked 14th
Jodar won eight of his final nine service points for the win. Jodar and Carlos Alcaraz combined for a one-two punch in the concluding doubles rubber, defeating Bublik and Taylor Fritz to end the day with a 3-1 European lead
Main photo:- Casper Ruud opens the scoring for Team Europe – ISF Ltd
Jannik Sinner on Friday announced another injury setback, with the world No. 1 withdrawing from the September start of the China Open in Beijing.
The Italian who has not played since defending his Wimbledon title in July, has been on the injury list ever since, missing the Masters events in Canada and Cincinnati and skipping the US Open.
Sinner won the Beijing event a year ago and could now be in doubt for the Shanghai Masters next month.
“Hello everyone, Jannik here,” Sinner posted on social media.
“I want to send the warmest greetings to the Chinese fans. I’m very sorry to announce that I won’t be able to play in Beijing this year.
“My knee is not there, where I would like [it] to be, and I am not ready to compete yet. But I will do everything possible to be there on court as soon as I can.
“What I miss the most is, of course, the tournament, the fans, and the atmosphere. I’ve had a great, great time in the past, winning the title also last year, and I’m very disappointed that I cannot defend it this year, but I’m very happy to come back next year.
“So I wish everyone a very good tournament and I’ll see you all very soon on court again.”
This season has been a roller coaster for the 24-year-old who won five Masters 1000 titles in a row in 2026: Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome.
Main Photo:- Jannik Sinner won Beijing trophy in 2023. – by ISF Ltd
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