Frances Tiafoe claimed the biggest title of his career after he won an all-American clash against Taylor Fritz to win the Halle Open crown on Sunday. 

Tiafoe won his fourth trophy but his first above ATP 250 level with a dominant 6-4 6-4 victory in 67 minutes, with his triumph also seeing Fritz lose back-to-back grass-court finals.

Having already threatened four breaks across the third and fifth games, Tiafoe eventually got the better of Fritz's serve to put himself 5-3 up and in control of proceedings. 

Tiafoe took the opening set at the second time of asking, and his momentum continued as he broke Fritz early on to put himself into a commanding position at heristo-arena. 

Fritz attempted to respond with consecutive love service games, but Tiafoe was able to hold firm with the ball in hand, sealing his win with a flurry of blistering forehands. 

"I've lost a lot of 500 finals. I've lost a lot of finals in my career," Tiafoe said. "This is big. I just want to say one of my favourite scriptures: The pain that you're feeling does not compare to the joy that is coming. Obviously, that has been proven very true.

"A couple of weeks ago, I had one of the toughest losses of my career at the French Open, and to come back and have a good week in Stuttgart and win here for my biggest title, beating the players I did, it's a huge testimony to that quote. It’s something I’ve been living by."

Tiafoe overcomes recent near-misses to make Halle history

Having lost all four of his previous finals above ATP 250 level, including a defeat to Fritz in Tokyo four years ago, Tiafoe was able to get himself over the line here and put his heart-breaking exit at the French Open to Matteo Arnaldi in the fourth round behind him. 

Tiafoe's triumph also came with a bit of history, too. He became the first American to win the title in Halle, and he did so by defeating some tough opponents along the way. 

Fritz was the third opponent in the top 10 of the ATP rankings that Tiafoe had beaten this week, having also seen off Flavio Cobolli and Felix Auger-Aliassime.