FRISCO — A battle between the two top-ranked Americans in the world at the Dallas Open turned into a dramatic three-set match as world No. 9 Ben Shelton defeated No. 7 Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to win the ATP 500 title.
The match was punctuated by a back-and-forth final set that saw both players break serve early.
Shelton broke first to make it 2-1 and Fritz broke back three games later to tie it at three. After a series of holds, the match hit its climax in the 10th and 11th games of the set.
Fritz, who was leading 5-4, generated three championship points on Shelton’s serve. The 23-year-old buckled down and fought them all off to stay in the match. After failing to convert, Fritz hit two unforced errors and his only double fault of the match to hand Shelton three break points.
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Shelton made the most of Fritz’s lapse and got the break when his opponent hit another unforced error. He held his nerve from there to serve out the match despite Fritz’s best efforts in the final game.
The result was a total reversal from an opening set where Fritz didn’t give Shelton much of a chance, especially with his serve. Fritz, a 28-year old from California, hit six aces and won all 18 of his first serve points in the opening set without any double faults.
Shelton stabilized after a difficult three games that saw Fritz win 12 of the match’s first 13 points and break Shelton’s serve at the first time of asking. The early lead proved too much to overcome for Shelton and while he made Fritz work to serve out the set, the Californian was able to overcome a 0-30 deficit and hold to win the opening set.
Both sides held serve through much of the second set, but it was Fritz who applied pressure early on. Shelton responded, twice holding off break points before converting a break point of his own to take the lead late in the set. He held serve after that to win the second frame.
It’s the third time this week that Shelton came back from losing the opening set to win the match. He beat Serbian Miomir Kecmanović 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinal and then took out defending Dallas Open champion Denis Shapovalov in the semifinal 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4).
The win is Shelton’s 4th career title win and his second consecutive win over Fritz, following up his semifinal victory en route to a title last year at the Canadian Open in Toronto. He is now 2-1 in his career against Fritz.
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