The No. 2 seed and No. 9 player in the ATP rankings lost the first set in each of the last three rounds of the tournament, this time coming back for a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Fritz in the first meeting of the top seeds since the event moved to Dallas in 2022.
Shelton improved to 4-0 in ATP finals and beat Fritz, ranked seventh in the world, after the pair had split their first two meetings. The 23-year-old’s title came after he reached the Australian Open quarterfinals last month, losing in straight sets to Jannik Sinner.
After saving three match points to get the third set to 5-5, Shelton had three chances to close out Fritz while serving for the match. Fritz saved the first two, but the 10-time ATP champion couldn’t match his opponent by saving the third.
“This was a crazy match to be a part of,” Shelton said. “I thought the level was amazing.”
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