Taylor Fritz exacted a measure of revenge for his defeat to Ben Shelton in the Stuttgart Open final, overcoming his compatriot in a near-three-hour Halle Open quarter-final.

The American duo were meeting for the second time in five days, after Shelton was victorious in three sets in their showpiece match on Sunday, winning his first grass-court title.

And the latest instalment of their rivalry also went the distance, with three tie-breaks required and Fritz saving a match point in the second set of his 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-3) victory.

Fritz, who was also beaten by Shelton in Dallas in February, fell behind following a first-set tie-break, with neither player even offering up a break point throughout the 12 games.

The second set also saw just one break point, with Shelton failing to convert, before it went to another breaker.

Shelton was on the brink of victory at 7-6 up, but Fritz dug deep to win four of the next five points, levelling the match when his opponent's backhand return dropped long.

Both players applied pressure late on in the decider, but yet again, neither could take a game on the other's serve, prompting a third tie-break – in which Fritz reeled off four straight points to reach the semi-finals, where he could face Alexander Zverev.

The world number nine said afterwards: "I don't know if I could have taken losing another one of those to Ben.

"When I say that, I mean just doing everything but winning the match, because the funny thing about this one is he had the chances. 

"In the other two, he won. I probably had the better chances. I just had it in my head about capitalising on the big chances, and I am happy to get through that."

Third time lucky for Fritz in high-quality affair

Fritz was desperate to avoid a hat-trick of defeats to Shelton in 2026, and he had to show plenty of character against the world number five, who entered the match with a 13-1 record at ATP 500 events this year. 

Both players served at an exceptionally high level, with no breaks of serve and only four break points overall – all of which went Shelton's way.  

Indeed, Shelton won 72% of his points on serve (88/123), with Fritz taking 76% (91/120). 

Since the start of last year, Fritz's 19 grass-court victories are the most of any player on the ATP Tour, while Shelton's 12 are the second-most, so it would be no surprise to see them square off again in the latter stages of Wimbledon.