Shelton reaches the Halle quarter-finals and a rematch with Fritz
Six days after beating him for the Stuttgart title, Ben Shelton will meet Taylor Fritz again, the third seed edged Ethan Quinn 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to reach the Halle quarter-finals, his grass winning streak now at six.
Ben Shelton, Stuttgart 2026 | © Action Plus / PsNewz
American third seed Ben Shelton reached the quarter-finals in Halle on Thursday, edging compatriot Ethan Quinn 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 at the Terra Wortmann Open to set up a repeat of last Sunday’s Stuttgart final against Taylor Fritz.
The win extended Shelton’s streak to six matches, all on grass, since he beat Fritz for the Stuttgart title six days earlier. It also kept alive his bid to become the first man to win both German grass-court titles in a single season, with Halle the missing half of the set.
Quinn, the world No 66, made him earn it: the 22-year-old, chasing a first top-10 win and a maiden ATP quarter-final, levelled the match by taking the second set before Shelton pulled clear in the decider.
Shelton had reached the last 16 with a straight-sets win over Italian Lorenzo Sonego (7-5, 6-3), while Quinn came through his previous round by recovering from a one-sided opening set to beat Russian Karen Khachanov (1-6, 6-4, 6-4).
The reward is another meeting with Fritz, the fifth seed and world No 9, a week on from the Stuttgart final Shelton won 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, a third successive win in a rivalry he has dominated since 2023. It is one of three quarter-finals in Halle involving Americans, with Frances Tiafoe also through to the last eight.
