Ben Shelton has secured back-to-back Munich Open titles.
The American proved too strong for Italian star Flavio Cobolli, beating the 23-year-old 6-2, 7-5 on the Munich Centre Court.
The triumph marked Shelton’s second ATP title of the season, following his victory at the Dallas Open in February.
Shelton has emerged as the most exciting American talent on the Tour; and with victory in Germany, the 23-year-old has joined an elite group alongside a various American greats.
Ben Shelton joins elite group alongside Andre Agassi
As per statisticians OptaAce, Ben Shelton is only the fifth American man to win a clay-court event outside of the US since 2000.
Andre Agassi was the first to do so, winning the 2002 Italian Open. The occasion marked Agassi’s first and last Italian Open title of his career.
A year later, Andy Roddick joined Agassi in winning a non-US clay-court event after beating Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-3 in the St Polten Open final.
Seven years later, Sam Querrey – a former Wimbledon semi-finalist – won the Belgrade Open, becoming the third American man to win a non-US clay-court event.
Sebastian Korda became the fourth to do so after defeating Marco Cecchinato in the 2021 Parma Open final.
Shelton has become the fifth to add his name to the esteemed list, following his victory over Flavio Cobolli on Sunday.
US men to win a non-US clay-court event since 2000
- Andre Agassi: 2002 Italian Open
- Andy Roddick: 2003 St Polten Open
- Sam Querrey: 2010 Belgrade Open
- Sebastian Korda: 2021 Parma Open
- Ben Shelton: 2026 Munich Open
Ben Shelton determined to improve on clay
After defeating Cobolli, Shelton expressed a desire to continuously improve his play on the red dirt.
“I have big ambitions for the clay courts,” Shelton said after the match, as per the ATP Tour.
“It is a surface I want to get better on each year. It is slowly becoming one of my favourite surfaces to play on.”
It will be interesting to see if Shelton plays a non-US clay-court event in 2027 – particularly the Monte Carlo Masters.
Should the ATP Tour introduce a new grass-court Masters event? 💭
If so, where should the tournament be held?
America’s top eight players did not participate in the Monte Carlo Masters this year.
John Isner, a Masters 1000 champion, recently expressed a desire to see Ben Shelton compete in Monte Carlo in the future.
“Again, I said this last week, I would love to see someone like Ben Shelton at least enter the tournament,” Isner said on the Nothing Major Show.
And if things don’t go well in Houston… I know Ben took the doubles title in Houston but it’s not that hard, if you don’t do very well in Houston, to get over there.
“Try to string together a good week and then get back home.
“I really would like some of the Americans to consider that moving forward.”
