American aces advance: Taylor Fritz & Ben Shelton cruise into Stuttgart quarterfinals

Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton have made comfortable starts at the Stuttgart Open, their first grass-court tournament of the season. The American No. 1 and No. 2 faced no major issues against their respective French opponents and have advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament after receiving byes in the Round of 32.

Shelton was the first to take the court to begin his tournament run. He was the favorite against World No. 132 Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who still managed to give the American a good fight. The first set was decided by fine margins, with Shelton prevailing in a tie-break after a set without breaks. In the second set, a tie-break again seemed inevitable, but Shelton secured a crucial break at the opportune moment to clinch the victory 7-6(4), 7-5.

Shelton finished the match winning 82% of points on his first serve and 66% on his second. He saved all 4 break point opportunities against him and tallied 25 winners to just 14 unforced errors.

Later, it was the turn of World No. 7 Taylor Fritz, who is looking to bounce back from a few lackluster clay-court tournaments. The American didn't have it easy against World No. 47 Quentin Halys, who was coming off a first-round win. Fritz had already defeated Halys three weeks prior in the Geneva Open round of 16.

The American started with an immediate break and surged to a 3-0 lead in the first set. He held his serve to close out the set 6-3, conceding only 5 points on his serve. In the second set, Halys was closer to securing a break, but Fritz saved both break points he faced. In the tie-break, Fritz sealed the match on his second match point, winning 6-3, 7-6(6) to advance to the quarterfinals.

Shelton awaits his quarterfinal opponent, who will be decided between 8th seed Jiri Lehecka and German wildcard Jan-Lennard Struff. On Fritz's side, his opponent is already known: qualifier Márton Fucsovics.