It’s surely just a matter of time till Ben Shelton reaches a maiden grass-court final. The big-serving lefty has exactly the sort of explosive style that can thrive on these surfaces (he did pick up an encouraging 4th round run at Wimbledon last year).
2025 ATP Tour
ATP 250
BOSS Open (Stuttgart Open)
Tennis Club Weissenhof, Stuttgart, Germany (Outdoor Grass-court)
Selected Quarterfinals- 13th June
Ben Shelton (3) 0.76 vs Jiri Lehecka (8) 1.03
Shelton improved to 18-11 for the season with a hard-fought opening victory over Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Shelton won 78% of his first-serve points. However, he landed less than 50% on his first delivery (he needs to pump those stats up). Shelton started the year in imperious fashion, reaching the semifinals of the Aussie Open to further underline his burgeoning Grand Slam potential. He has been inconsistent since then but picked up a few eye-catching results on the clay-court swing, finishing runner-up in Munich and taking a set off Alcaraz in the 4th round of the French Open. Shelton is going to be a real handful if he gets that first-serve percentage close to 70%.
I underestimated Jiri Lehecka’s ability to get up to speed in grass-court conditions. The Czech defied fanatical home support as he took down Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-5. I thought that the Czech may struggle with Struff’s brand of first-strike tennis (especially after missing last year’s entire grass-court swing due to injury). But Lehecka was in dominant mood against the German, firing 11 aces and hitting 30 winners to just 20 unforced errors. Lehecka has served like a demon this week, blasting 24 aces in his back-to-back straight-sets wins. Lehecka is starting to regain the form that propelled him to an 11-2 start to the season. Lehecka is yet to reach a grass-court final in his career but did take down Tommy Paul en route to a 4th round run at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. Lehecka has a strong serve and an excellent forehand but also possesses the ability to play strategically when the game demands it (all excellent ingredients for a prospective grass-court player).
The Verdict: Lehecka to win in three sets at 3.3- This will be the first meeting between these two. Shelton served poorly in his opener and will need to get that first-serve percentage up. Lehecka has been fearsome on serve this week and was impeccable from the back of the court against Struff. I think he has the defensive capabilities to withstand Shelton’s awesome power. He also has the attacking variety to challenge Shelton’s court coverage.
