Defending champion Frances Tiafoe and top-seeded fellow American Ben Shelton have arrange a conflict for the US Men’s Clay Court Championship title.
Tiafoe, ranked twenty first, defeated Italy’s Luciano Darderi 6-2 7-6 (7-2) of their semi-final on Saturday and is attempting to develop into the occasion’s first repeat champion since Steve Johnson did it in 2017 and 2018.
After a dominant opening, Darderi rallied for a second-set tiebreaker. But Tiafoe was relentless and clinched his first ATP closing of the season on his opponent’s double fault.
“Great performance from me today,” stated Tiafoe, who credited extra aggression and extra enjoyable for his return to the ultimate. “It’s a little different clay out here in Houston, you can play more like a hard court.”
Shelton got here again from shedding a first-set tiebreaker to beat Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7 (7-4) 6-4 6-4 and attain the second ATP closing of his profession and his first on clay.
Shelton, a 21-year-old ranked sixteenth, acknowledged it took him till just a few video games within the second set to search out his kind.
“You have a lot of time out here, playing on clay. The game just moves a little bit slower, you have more time to process,” Shelton stated.
“I tried to use that to my advantage today and really happy to be in the finals my first time here in Houston.”
Tiafoe misplaced his solely profession assembly with Shelton on the US Open quarter-finals final September.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
