Top-flight Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz will oppose each other in the BOSS Open championship match after winning their respective semifinal matches on Saturday in Stuttgart, Germany.
The top-seeded Shelton played twice on Saturday, beginning the day by winning the final two sets of a suspended match with Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro. Shelton lost the first set before it was suspended Friday, but he was strong Saturday while recovering for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Shelton then survived an intense battle with fourth-seeded Czech Jiri Lehecka, prevailing 6-7 (4), 7-6 (14), 7-6 (6). Shelton had a 21-17 edge in aces in the match that took two hours and 52 minutes.
No. 2 Fritz, the defending champion, had 13 aces while cruising to a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan. He is 1-2 all-time against Shelton after losing to him in three sets in the Dallas final in February.
Libema Open
Second-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia had a 5-0 edge in aces while sailing to a 6-4, 6-0 semifinal victory over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino to reach the title match at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
The 2024 event champion fell behind 4-2 before winning 10 straight games to finish off the victory. He will face Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak, a 30-year-old journeyman looking for his first career ATP title.
Majchrzak committed just 13 unforced errors during a 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory over No. 3 Daniil Medvedev of Russia. Medvedev had an 8-1 edge in aces but committed 41 unforced errors.
Earlier in the day, Medvedev knocked off Croatia’s Marin Cilic 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the semis.
–Field Level Media
