Shelton breaks through for first Stuttgart success

Ben Shelton came good after a defeat last year, with the American claiming his first victory at the ATP Stuttgart grass on Wednesday, 7-6(4), 7-5 over Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

The American tipped for the future went out here 12 months ago to Australian James Duckworth in three sets at the Wimbledon prep event on German grass.

This time the ATP No. 12 did not fail, saving four break points in the second set. He eventually served out the win at the Weissenhof Club

“I’m really happy. Happy to get my first win here in Stuttgart,” the winner said. “I played great in the big moments today down the stretch.

The player who reached the second week of Wimbledon last summer added: “I’m just really happy to be back on the grass competing. It’s a completely different game, playing on this surface and hopefully I can get better and better as this week goes.”

Shelton advanced in just under two hours and could bresch the ranking top 10 next Monday if he does better than rival Daniil Medvedev, playing this week in the Netherlands.

Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics moved ahead to join Shelton in Stuttgart quarters, defeating France’s Arthur Rinderknech 7-6(4), 6-3 as he plays here for the seventh time.

A third Frenchman went down on the day, with Quentin Halys taking a 6-3, 7-6 (6) loss to American Taylor Fritz.