Shelton Dominates in BMW Open Final with Straight Sets Victory

Ben Shelton claimed his fifth Tour title with a convincing 6-2, 7-5 win over Flavio Cobolli, admitting that clay is gradually becoming one of his preferred surfaces. Shelton avenged his loss to Alexander Zverev in the final last year, securing his second clay title. Following the win, Shelton expressed his ambitions on clay as Roland Garros approaches, having been knocked out in the round of 16 last year by Carlos Alcaraz. "I started at a high level, which I've done before against him," Shelton said. "The challenge is maintaining that level as he raises his game. I managed to do that in the second set, hanging in when he played exceptional tennis, and came out on top in straight sets. I'm pleased with my performance this week, improving as the week progressed, and I'm grateful for the work my team and I put in. My goal is to get better on clay each year, and it's slowly becoming a surface I enjoy playing on. This is just one step in a long journey, and we'll see what happens next. The match's tone was set early, with Shelton breaking Cobolli's serve in the first game and then defending six break points in his first service game. Shelton's win makes him the first American since Andre Agassi in 2002 to win a title on clay above the ATP 250 level, having won his first clay title in Houston in 2024. Arthur Fils also won his first title since 2024 at the Barcelona Open, overcoming Andrey Rublev 6-2, 7-6 (2) on Sunday. Fils, who returned to action in February after nearly eight months out due to injury, secured his fourth ATP title with the victory. He quickly took the first set in 31 minutes but struggled to capitalize on seven break points as Rublev stayed in the match at 2-2 in the second set. Fils eventually secured the crucial break to make it 4-2, but squandered a chance to seal the win when he made three consecutive errors, gifting Rublev a break back while leading 5-3. Rublev fought back, rescuing three match points to hold, and then broke for a 6-5 lead. However, Fils drew level and forced a decisive tiebreak, where he prevailed 7-2.