Frisco, Texas — Top Seed taylor fritz beat Marin Cilic 2nd place in straight sets ben shelton Unite with past defending champions Denis Shapovalov The Dallas Open finals between the world’s highest-ranked Americans is set for Saturday night.
Fritz hit 22 aces to win 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), but Shelton had three break points early in the second set but ignited the match with a sparkling crosscourt forehand winner and held on to win 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Fritz, 28, is ranked seventh in the world, two spots ahead of Shelton, who lost in the Australian Open quarterfinals. Jannik Sinner In a straight set.
Fritz, a 10-time ATP Tour champion, and Shelton split their first two matches. Shelton has three tour titles heading into Sunday’s final.
“Are you saying that’s the Finals you want to see?” Shelton asked, as fans cheered at the club’s indoor soccer field, which also serves as the Dallas Cowboys’ practice field. “I’m really excited for that matchup.”
Shelton came back from a set down for the second straight game after winning. Miomir Kecmanovic In the quarterfinals.
The 23-year-old dropped a set and was 1-1 with three break points in the second set, buoyed by a crosscourt winner. He then took two set points on seventh-seeded Shapovalov’s serve and converted the second to take the deciding set.
Shelton won three of the final four points in the tiebreaker, sealing the victory with another forehand winner.
Fritz had three set points in the first tie-break and three match points in the second tie-break against unseeded Cilic.
The 2024 US Open finalist closed out the first match with three consecutive aces after Cilic saved two set points.
One of Cilic’s eight double faults (Fritz had none) gave Fritz an early lead in the second tiebreak. Fritz earned his first match point when the 2014 U.S. Open champion’s service return was long.
The 37-year-old Cilic used his powerful serve to escape several difficult spots in a match in which he hit 38 aces. Cilic, who was chasing his 600th singles win, saved all five break points against him, while Fritz never faced a break point in winning for the third time in four meetings with Cilic.