Zverev Dominates Shelton to Reach Stuttgart Final Against Fritz

Zverev faced Shelton in the semifinals of the Stuttgart tournament. The two players had met twice before on the tour, most recently in the Munich final, where the German emerged victorious in straight sets (6-2, 6-4).

In a tightly contested first set, Zverev and Shelton were forced into a tiebreak, which was equally competitive, with the world No. 3 ultimately prevailing (10-8). Shelton, who had been confident with his serves throughout the tournament, fired another ten aces in this set but narrowly missed his chance to take control of the match.

The second set saw no widening of the gap as the duel once again went to a tiebreak. Zverev struggled, failing to convert any break points, while Shelton couldn’t create a single one against his opponent. The 22-year-old American was completely outplayed in the decisive tiebreak, suffering a harsh 7-1 defeat.

As the tournament’s top seed, Zverev will now compete in his third grass-court final in eight years, facing third-seeded Fritz, who defeated Auger-Aliassime (6-4, 7-6). This will also mark Zverev’s 39th career final as he seeks his first title at this ATP 250 event.