“There’s a lot of ways to win a match, I’ve been choosing the most difficult” – Shelton survives match points again to reach the Stuttgart final
Three sets every match, a first set dropped every time, and two match points saved in a 16-14 tie-break: Ben Shelton (No 1) beat Jiri Lehecka 6-7 (4), 7-6 (14), 7-6 (6) to reach his first grass-court final, where Taylor Fritz awaits.
Ben Shelton, Stuttgart 2026 | © Action Plus / PsNewz
American Ben Shelton took the hardest possible route to a final once more on Saturday, saving two match points before edging Czech fourth seed Jiri Lehecka 6-7 (4), 7-6 (14), 7-6 (6) in just under three hours to reach the final of the Boss Open in Stuttgart, the first grass-court final of his career.
The top seed has not played a straightforward match all week. Shelton has been taken to three sets in every round in Stuttgart, and has dropped the opening set each time. Against Lehecka the pattern held and then escalated into something close to absurd.
He lost the first on a tie-break, then found himself in a second-set breaker of extraordinary length, defending his position point after point. Two of those points were match points for Lehecka. Shelton saved them both, and went on saving, eventually converting his eighth set point to take the tie-break 16-14 and force a decider.
The third set, fittingly, came down to another tie-break, which Shelton closed out 7-6 (6) to end one of the matches of his season.
Shelton : “No words”
“I have no words,” Shelton said in his on-court interview, the centre-court crowd still celebrating around him. “I hope you guys liked it.” Asked whether his repeated long stays on court had been deliberate, he made light of the punishing workload.
“It’s a short grass-court season, so I’m just trying to get as many hours as I can,” he said. “Sometimes tennis doesn’t go to plan. Obviously I lost the first set in every single match I played. That can make things difficult, but there’s a lot of ways to win a match, and I’ve been choosing the most difficult route for the most part.”
The run to the final has been an exercise in escapology from the outset. Shelton recovered from a set down to beat Japanese Sho Shimabukuro (4-6, 6-3, 6-4), then saved a match point in another set-down comeback against compatriot Marcos Giron (6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (5)) before the semi-final against Lehecka demanded the same resolve a third time.
Fritz again
Three matches, three opening sets surrendered, three recoveries – and on two occasions a match point staring him down. It is his eighth career final and his third of 2026.
Lehecka, ranked No 12, had looked the form player in the bottom half of the draw and will rue letting the chance slip. He beat American sixth seed Frances Tiafoe (6-4, 7-6 (4)) and edged Australian James Duckworth (6-7 (8), 6-4, 7-6 (3)) to reach the last four, and held two match points to end Shelton’s week before the American wriggled clear in that marathon second-set tie-break.
The reward is a familiar face across the net. Shelton will meet second seed Taylor Fritz, the world No 9, who reached the final far more economically with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Kazakh third seed Alexander Bublik that took only two sets and a fraction of the time Shelton has spent on court this week. The contrast in mileage will count for something on Sunday: Fritz arrives fresh, Shelton on fumes after three consecutive three-setters.
It is a meeting with its own recent history. The two Americans met in the Dallas final in February, and Sunday will be their second title match against one another this season. “I’m very tired, but excited to be playing him in another final,” Shelton said. “Obviously one of the top American guys that I’ve always looked up to. So anytime we get to share the court, it’s a lot of fun, and I hope you guys all come out and are as loud as you were today.”
