Ben Shelton gets the better of Frances Tiafoe 7-5 4-6 6-3 in the final in Houston on Sunday in what was an all-American contest. The battle lasted 2 hours and 16 minutes. He won this tournament after playing this event for the first time in his career.
Shelton added $ 41,935 to his prize money after conquering this final. He has earned $ 100,635 in total after winning this tournament.
Highlights Ben Shelton vs. Frances Tiafoe US Men’s Clay Court Championship – Houston
Shelton’s Interview
Stats: aces, double faults, breaks, winners
2h:16
At the end of the match, Shelton scored 92 points vs. Frances’s 83.
Shelton
Shelton served very well to win 83% of the points (45/54) behind his first serve, and he won 53% points (18/34) on his second serve. Ben fired 11 aces and he committed 8 double faults. Shelton was effective at converting 67% of the break points that he procured (2/3).
Tiafoe
On the other side, Frances was pretty focused in converting 50% of the break points that he procured points (1/2). Nonetheless, that was not enough to win the match.
After this match, the head to head between Shelton and Tiafoe is 2-0 for Ben.
This was the 2nd career title for Ben. He won the previous title in Houston. (see list of titles and finals). Tiafoe remains with 4th titles after he conquered the tournament in Delray Beach 2018, in Australia 2023, in Houston 2023 and in Stuttgart 2023. (see list of titles and finals)
Live score progression and stats
There was not much difference between the 2 players in this set with the exception of 1 break that Ben grabbed in the 12th game (7-5) prior to finally winning the set (7-5).
Ben failed to serve out the set when leading 7-5 to be broken at 30.
Shelton was unable to convert any of the 2 conquered break points. He had 2 break points opportunities in the 10th (5-4 40-A) and the 12th game (6-5 30-40). On the other side, Ben didn’t concede a single break point during this set.
They played 74 points. Shelton conquered the set after winning 8 points more than Frances (41-33). Ben conceded 9 points on serve (28-9). Regarding the other side of the net, Frances conceded 13 points on serve (24-13).
Similarly to the 1st set, the set was pretty even as both sides managed to hold the serve. The only difference was 1 break that Frances clinched in the 3rd game (2-1) prior to ultimately winning the set (6-4).
Frances was on the money in converting all his break points in the 3rd game (1-1 0-40 and 15-40). On the other side, Tiafoe didn’t concede a single break point during this set.
They contested 58 points. Tiafoe was the winner of the set after clinching 6 more points than Ben (32-26). Tiafoe lost 8 points on serve (21-8). on the other side of the net, Shelton conceded 11 points on serve (18-11).
Similarly to the 2nd set, the set was pretty even as both sides managed to hold the serve. The only difference was 1 break that Ben conquered in the 4th game (3-1) just before eventually conquering the set (6-3).
Shelton was clinical in converting the only break point that he conquered in the 4th game (2-1 15-40). On the other side, Ben didn’t concede a single break point during this set.
They played 43 points. Shelton was the winner of the set after clinching 7 more points than Frances (25-18). Ben surrendered 5 points on serve (17-5). On the losing side, Tiafoe conceded 8 points on serve (13-8).
