New Delhi: 

Alexander Zverev moved a step closer to his first-ever grass-court trophy dream after defeating Ben Shelton in straight sets to book his place in the final of the BOSS OPEN in Stuttgart on Saturday. In a battle dominated by big serves, Zverev held his nerve to win 7-6(8), 7-6(1), sealing victory in just over two hours.

Fritz awaits in final:

Earlier in the day, Taylor Fritz defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in Stuttgart as he reached his first final this year. Aliassime edged past Fritz 15-12 on aces, but the Canadian cracked at the worst time in the first set as he lost his serve to the American, leading 5-4.

Fritz took advantage of the error and wrapped the hard-fought second set in a tie break. Now, the 27-year-old is eyeing a ninth ATP title as he faces Zverev in the finals. The American holds a psychological advantage over the German as he has beaten him in the last four meetings, including a semi-final clash in last year’s ATP Finals.

The top seed looked rock-solid throughout, firing 36 winners and keeping Shelton at bay without facing a single break point. It’s a return to a grass-court final for the first time since 2017 for the world No. 3, who previously reached the finals in Halle in 2016 and 2017 but is still searching for his maiden title on the surface.

He saved six break points during the match and showed great fight, especially in the opening set. However, he couldn’t match Zverev’s level in the second-set tie-break, struggling to handle the German’s sharp returns and consistency.

After the match, the German said, “Really happy to be in the final again, especially here in Germany. I enjoy playing on grass, even though I haven’t been to a final on it in years. This means a lot.”

Despite losing, Shelton is set to achieve a major milestone after his Stuttgart run as he will break into the Top 10 of the ATP rankings for the first time on Monday.

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