Ben Shelton made history by winning the Munich Open title on Sunday.
Shelton defeated Flavio Cobolli in the final of the ATP 500 event to become the first American to hoist a clay-court trophy above ATP 250 level since Andre Agassi in 2002.
The American secured the fifth tour-level crown of his career, and his second on clay, two years after his triumph at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston.
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Statistically, Shelton‘s best surface is hard court, with a career win percentage of 67%, but clay comes in at second over grass for the 23-year-old, who has tallied 57.5% on the dirt.
After emerging victorious over Cobolli, the Munich champion revealed he is starting to enjoy playing on clay a lot more ahead of Roland Garros.
Ben Shelton describes how his relationship now is with clay
Speaking on court after the match, Shelton was asked what winning the title will do for his momentum on the surface for the rest of the clay swing.
He responded: “Yeah, it’s huge. Moving forward, you know, there’s big ambitions for the clay courts.
“You know, a surface that I want to get better and better on each year. And it’s slowly becoming, you know, one of my favourite surfaces to play on.
“So this is just one step in a long swing. And let’s see what happens.”
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Shelton only has 260 ATP points to defend for the rest of the clay swing, after recording a largely indifferent run last year.
In 2025, Shelton bowed out in the third round of the Madrid Open and crashed out in his opening match at the Italian Open.
He advanced to the fourth round at Roland Garros last season before ultimately bowing out to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Ben Shelton reacts to his performance against Flavio Cobolli
Shelton delivered an impressive performance against Cobolli, tallying an 85% win percentage of first serve while not conceding a single break point.
“I came out at a really high level,” said Shelton of the match. “I’ve done that before against him.
“The toughest thing is maintaining it against him as he raises his level. I was able to do that in the second set, hang in there when he played some great tennis, and come through to win that in straight sets.
“So I’m happy with my performance this week. I got better and better as the week went on, and just really happy with the work that me and my team put in here.”
Shelton is now on a four-game winning streak against Cobolli, and leads the head-to-head between the two 4-2.
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