{"id":481205,"date":"2026-02-15T07:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T07:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/481205\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T07:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T07:59:08","slug":"ben-shelton-downs-freight-train-denis-shapovalov-in-dallas-sf-thriller-sets-taylor-fritz-final-atp-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/481205\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Shelton downs ‘freight train’ Denis Shapovalov in Dallas SF thriller, sets Taylor Fritz final | ATP Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas
\n Shelton downs ‘freight train’ Shapovalov in Dallas SF thriller, sets Fritz final<\/p>\n

Fritz defeated Cilic in the first semi-final\n<\/p>\n

February 15, 2026<\/p>\n

Sam Hodde\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Ben Shelton beats Denis Shapovalov in a final-set tie-break on Saturday in the Dallas semi-finals.
\n By Vishakha Khandelwal<\/p>\n

Ben Shelton<\/a> survived a major test from fellow lefty Denis Shapovalov<\/a> on Saturday at the Nexo Dallas Open<\/a>, where he prevailed in a final-set tie-break to reach the final. The second seed defeated the defending champion 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4).<\/p>\n

“It was a gritty win. A lot of credit to Denis the way he’s playing on this court,” Shelton said. “It’s a freight train coming at you.”<\/p>\n

The second-seeded Shelton demonstrated impressive resilience under pressure throughout the clash. He saved 10 of the 11 break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, including a crucial save with a clutch volley at 2-2 in the second set and another save at 5-5 in the third set. With the win, he took a 4-0 lead in the pair\u2019s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.<\/p>\n

Shelton will face top seed Taylor Fritz<\/a> in the final. This will be the first final between the top two seeds at the tournament since 2018, when top seed Kevin Anderson<\/a> defeated second seed Sam Querrey<\/a> in New York, where the tournament was previously held.<\/p>\n

“I’ve really made a concerted effort to show up to each tournament this year with the mindset that I want to win it,” Shelton said. “I’m there, each and every match, putting myself in the position that I need to compete at the highest levels.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Fritz halted the run of a resurgent Marin Cilic<\/a> in the semi-finals of the Nexo Dallas Open on Saturday. <\/p>\n

In a match decided by fine margins, the top seed held his nerve to edge the Croatian 7-6(5), 7-6(3) in a gripping two-hour, two-minute clash, hammering 22 aces past the 37-year-old.<\/p>\n

“Just really calm serving. I think that’s the biggest thing when I feel calm and relaxed, I serve well,” Fritz said in his on-court interview.<\/p>\n

Both players dominated with big deliveries in a match that featured no breaks. Fritz did not face a break point and struck 22 aces to Cilic\u2019s 16, including four in the first-set tie-break, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Although he failed to convert any of his five break-point chances, Fritz’s composure on serve ultimately made the difference as he won 86 per cent (48\/56) of his first-serve points.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something every tennis player experiences when you\u2019re the one in the opponent\u2019s service games,” Fritz said. “You have some chances, you\u2019re cruising on your service games and all of a sudden they get one break point, you\u2019ll probably win it. You\u2019ll go to the tie-break, all of a sudden some returns came back and I just told myself to be really ready in that tie-break.”<\/p>\n

With the win, Fritz took a 3-1 lead in the pair\u2019s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and advanced to his first final on home soil after reaching the US Open<\/a> final in 2024.<\/p>\n

Cilic was hoping to reach his first final above the ATP 250 level since winning the Queen\u2019s Club title in 2018. With his semi-final run in Dallas, the Croat is up 18 spots to No. 43 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Shelton downs ‘freight train’ Shapovalov in Dallas SF thriller, sets Fritz final Fritz defeated Cilic in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-481205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}