02/15/26 04:39:00
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02/15 16:37 CST Ben Shelton beats Taylor Fritz to win Dallas Open in meeting of
world's highest-ranked American men
Ben Shelton beats Taylor Fritz to win Dallas Open in meeting of world's
highest-ranked American men
FRISCO, Texas (AP) --- Ben Shelton saved three match points before finishing
another rally at the Dallas Open, beating top-seeded Taylor Fritz in three sets
for the title Sunday in a matchup of the world's highest-ranked American men.
The No. 2 seed and No. 9 player in the ATP rankings lost the first set in each
of the last three rounds of the tournament, this time coming back for a 3-6,
6-3, 7-5 victory over Fritz in the first meeting of the top seeds since the
event moved to Dallas in 2022.
Shelton improved to 4-0 in ATP finals and beat Fritz, ranked seventh in the
world, after the pair had split their first two meetings. The 23-year-old's
title came after he reached the Australian Open quarterfinals last month,
losing in straight sets to Jannik Sinner.
After saving three match points to get the third set to 5-5, Shelton had three
chances to close out Fritz while serving for the match. Fritz saved the first
two, but the 10-time ATP champion couldn't match his opponent by saving the
third.
"This was a crazy match to be a part of," Shelton said. "I thought the level
was amazing."
Fritz's dominant serving from a semifinal win over Marin Cilic --- the
28-year-old didn't even face a break point while winning both tiebreakers in a
straight-sets victory --- carried over to the first set of the final. Fritz won
12 of his first 13 service points while breaking Shelton in the left-hander's
first service game.
Shelton turned the match late in the second set by breaking Fritz's serve for a
5-3 lead, then did it again early in the third set.
Fritz broke back for 3-3 was leading 5-4 on Shelton's serve when he had three
chances to close out the match. Shelton got to deuce with an overhead smash
from the net and a backhand winner that caught Fritz going the wrong way.
On Fritz's last match point, Shelton converted a volley to get back to deuce
and went on to hold serve with a backhand volley into the open court with both
players at the net.
"If you'd told me I lost after having three match points, I think I would
expect to be a lot more upset," Fritz said. "It hurts, but I feel like it
doesn't hurt as much as I would expect it to because I don't really have a lot
of regrets with how I played those match points."
Fritz's double-fault --- the only one of the match for either player --- gave
Shelton three break points at 5-5. Shelton converted the second break chance
when Fritz's forehand went long.
An ace on a second serve gave Shelton three match points, and he converted the
second when Fritz's lunging return attempt on Shelton's approach shot fell
short.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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