Taylor Fritz defeats favourite Alexander Zverev to claim Stuttgart Open title

World No. 7 and second seed Fritz saw off the challenge of top seed and home favourite Zverev in Stuttgart, beating him 6-3, 7-6(0) to lift the title.

It is the first title of 2025 for the American, who has struggled at times with an abdominal injury across the opening months of the season.

Victory also provides an impressive response to what proved to be a challenging clay swing, culminating in an opening-round exit at the French Open.

"I'm really happy," said Fritz, who has won four of his nine ATP titles on grass.

"I've said it a couple of times this week, after a not-so-great clay season, to come here and start the grass season perfectly, I'm super happy with how I played and super happy to get the title, and do it here.

"I don't know how much time I'm going to have to celebrate as I have doubles tomorrow, in London at Queen's. I've got to get over there."

Triumph for the American extends his head-to-head lead over Zverev to 8-5, having now won the last five meetings between the two.

Zverev beat Fritz in Rome last May to move 5-3 ahead in their head-to-head, but has failed to beat the American since then.

Those meetings include victories for Fritz at Wimbledon and the US Open, and in the last four of the ATP Finals, their last meeting before Sunday's Stuttgart final.

Zverev will remain as the world No. 3 despite his defeat, though Fritz has sealed a significant ranking boost thanks to a close-to-flawless week at the ATP 250 event.

Having fallen three spots to world No. 7 in the ATP Rankings after Roland Garros, Fritz now moves back up to his career-high of world No. 4.

The American moves back ahead of Novak Djokovic, Jack Draper, and Lorenzo Musetti, who were all ranked ahead of him after action in Paris.

With Djokovic not playing until Wimbledon and Musetti having withdrawn from the Queen's Club, Fritz is now well-placed to be a top-four seed at the third Grand Slam of the year.

The only player who can now prevent Fritz from being a top-four seed is Draper, who will drop two places to world No. 6 on Monday after not attempting to defend his Stuttgart Open title.

On Monday, Fritz will hold 4,735 points, while Draper will hold 4,550 points.

Both men will be defending quarter-finalist points at Queen's this week, though Fritz holds a significant advantage in the race to be in the top four by next week's (June 23, 2025) ATP Rankings.

The American can guarantee a top-four position by merely matching Draper's result, or by hoping the Brit does not significantly better his result.

Draper and Fritz are the second and third seeds, respectively, and could meet in the last four at the ATP 500 event.

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