Taylor Fritz is back to playing great tennis. After being bounced out early in many Masters 1000 events since the Australian Open and losing in the first round of the French Open, Fritz might be learning how to win on grass courts.
The top-ranked American (he will move up to No. 4 when the new ATP rankings are released next week) had never reached the final in Stuttgart before. Still, he was sharp in his semifinal match against fourth-seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and defeated the Canadian in straight sets 6-4 7-6(5).
Fritz's game should have always translated well to grass, which is the surface at the BOSS Open and Wimbledon, as he has an accurate and powerful serve, and he can volley well. The best he had done at Wimbledon, though, was reaching the quarterfinals twice. If he plays as he did in Stuttgart, that might change.
Taylor Fritz will face Alexander Zverev in the BOSS Open final
Auger-Aliassime and Fritz both served exceedingly well (the Canadian had 15 aces and just one double fault, and the American had 10 and one, respectively) and played a clean match, but Fritz was the more efficient.
He had 23 winners against just 12 unforced errors. That is winning tennis.
In the BOSS Open final on Sunday, he will play Alexander Zverev. The German defeated Fritz's fellow American Ben Shelton in the other semifinal. Shelton is still learning how to win at the highest levels in tennis, but he does have the kind of bombastic serve and forehand that should do him well on hard courts and grass.
The issue is that he has not yet developed the kind of defensive skills that are going to consistently get him past the other great players on the ATP. Zverev is simply a bad matchup for him. The German moves well and returns well, while also having a robotic and effective serve.
The German doesn't have the consistency of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, but other than those two, he would be favored against nearly anyone else on tour. He doesn't normally beat himself on his serve, and as Shelton is not yet a good returner, the match was likely to be close, but go Zverev's way.
Shelton did not get Zverev to a break point the entire match (the second time in a row that these two have played that the German hasn't faced a break point), and that was ultimately the difference. Shelton held serve but lost more points on his. In a tie-break, the advantage would go toward Zverev.
The first set went to a tie-break, which Zverev took 10-8. After Shelton held off several break points and two match points, in the second set, the set went to another tie-break. Like the first set tie-break, Zverev got mini-breaks early and held on to take the set and the match 7-6(8) 7-6(1).