Taylor Fritz reflected on his loss to Ben Shelton in the final of the 2026 Dallas Open. The 28-year-old had three championship points but wasn’t able to convert them into an 11th career title on the ATP Tour.
Ultimately, it was Shelton who came from behind and won the match 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. The win gave the 23-year-old his fourth ATP Tour title and also helped him inch closer to Fritz on the ATP Rankings.
Taylor Fritz Has No Regrets Despite Ben Shelton Loss in Dallas Open Final
After the match, Fritz opened up about his performance in the Dallas Open final. While the world No. 8Â lamented that his serve went awry in the middle of the second set, there was nothing he would have done differently.
“I don’t think I would do much differently. This isn’t like as heartbreaking of a loss, if you told me I lost after having three match points, I would expect to be a lot more upset. It hurts but I feel like it doesn’t hurt as much as I would expect it to, because I don’t really have a lot of regrets with how I play those match points,” Fritz said during his post-match press conference.
MORE: Ben Shelton Has a Lot To Say About Taylor Fritz After Denying Him Match Points in Tense Dallas Final
Fritz also praised Shelton for playing strong defensive tennis, which enabled him to wrest control of the match.
“I just lost my serve rhythm mid-way through the second set and just never really got it back, wasn’t getting the free points that I needed. And then he was just playing really good defense, like just chipping and grinding, not giving me pace to work with, getting a ton of balls in play and it just wasn’t easy to finish points even though I felt like the first two points in that game, I played well.”
Fritz will now turn his focus to the Delray Beach Open and is scheduled to begin his campaign in Florida on Wednesday.
The Major Stats From Fritz’s Loss to Shelton in Dallas Open Final
Fritz and Shelton played out a nervy and hard-fought final at the Ford Center on Sunday. The former had three championship points in the 10th game of the final set but couldn’t convert them into a victory.
Failure to convert those match points seemed to haunt Fritz, as he won only three more points in the two games that followed.
The Dallas Open final featured a total of 30 aces, although Fritz’s total of 14 was short of what he had managed throughout the tournament. His first serve percentage was also down to 67%, with Shelton a tad higher at 71%.
Fritz had a first-serve win percentage of 88% compared to his opponents’ 67%. But his win percentage on his second serve fell to 42%, with Shelton well in front at 65%. Shelton also managed to win three of his five break points, while Fritz could only manage to convert two of his seven opportunities.
These small margins helped make the difference in what was otherwise a closely contested final.
