Taylor Fritz has managed to avenge his Boss Open loss to Ben Shelton in the Halle Open, prompting Coco Gauff’s ex-coach, Brad Gilbert, to give a blunt take on the match. Despite Shelton not facing a single break point, Fritz beat the fellow American 6-7(5), 7-6(8), 7-6(3) in a three-set battle in the quarterfinals in Halle.
In a video posted on X, the veteran tennis player and coach strolled through the streets of Malibu and highlighted the brutal nature of the grass-court tennis, noting that when two players whose serve games are at the top, the winning comes down to who has a better chance of returning under pressure.
“The grass court is slow but, the serve and returns are still a big thing on grass, especially the return. Obviously, if a serve hits its spot, its difficult to return, and players still miss so many returns.”
He added:
“I still feel like that’s probably the biggest adjustments besides movement that the players need to make: either shortening up their swing, and blocking first serve returns in play. And that was one of those classic matches; 3 breakers, no breaks, shelton loses the match, doesn’t even face a break point, gotta be so frustrating.”
Gilbert then also complimented Fritz on his win, noting how massive this win would be for the American who has been through an injury-hampered season:
“So huge win for fritz who hadn’t had a stellar year, battling injury, has a semifinal coming off at Wimbledon.”
Fritz had been through a series of setbacks over the last few months, particularly dealing with a knee injury that handed him an early exit from Roland Garros. Despite the loss on Friday, Shelton continues to lead the head-to-ahead against Fritz, now up 3-2.
Ben Shelton’s Serving Game Ends In A Brutal Defeat
At the Halle Open’s quarterfinals, Ben Shelton came out strong and hit 15 aces and faced zero break points in the two-hour, 49-minute match. Despite the effort, World No. 9 Fritz managed to avenge his Boss Open and Dallas loss by saving one match point in the dramatic three-set tie-break thriller.
Shelton managed to take an early lead and edged the first set tiebreaker 7-5. Fritz, however, was able to save a match point on the second set and closed the set by winning the tiebreak 10-8. Fritz ultimately went on to win the third set 7-6(3) after both players demonstrated outstanding serves.
By the end, Fritz had fired 24 aces, while Shelton hit 15. Remarkably, both managed to win their service games.
Fritz will now face the reigning Roland Garros champion Alexander Zverev in the semifinals.
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