Taylor Fritz was unable to take home the Dallas Open title, despite having three match points against Ben Shelton.
Fritz has been playing through injuries so far this year, and that was the case once again at the Dallas Open.
Despite his physical ailments, Fritz was able to make history after reaching the Dallas Open final for the first time.
Fritz even had three championship points in the final against Shelton, and after the match he explained how he felt after failing to convert them.
Taylor Fritz explains why his loss to Ben Shelton ‘doesn’t hurt as much’
Fritz won the first set against Shelton, 6-3, before his compatriot levelled the Dallas Open final to force a decider.
Shelton took the early break in the third set before Fritz pulled things level, and it actually seemed as though the latter was going to take victory at 4-5 15-40.
Despite having three championship points in that game, Fritz was unable to convert and Shelton went on to win three games in a row to clinch the title.
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When reflecting on this in the post-match press conference, Fritz explained that he was not as hurt about being unable to take those opportunities as he felt that he did everything that he could have on them,
“At 15-40, he had been serving to me on second serve either kicker or body pretty much the whole match,” said Fritz. “Then the first point of that game he had gone second serve body and it looked like a kick and it cut, and he got me with that. He got a free point off his second serve to start the game doing that.
“So in that situation I was expecting either the kicker to the forehand or more than anything the body second serve, because it’s safe and it works for him. It makes a lot of sense. What I was not expecting was him to hit a cutter to the backhand which jumped up over my head.
“So it was just a really good second serve from him, unexpected, there was not much I could really do. It was a smart serve in that situation. The next point I thought I had made a really good return off his first serve to his backhand and he hit a pick up backhand line winner, so that’s just too good.
“Then I got the other match point on a second serve and hit a good return, solid backhand cross, and he ripped the forehand line. Again, he took a risk, hit a good shot. I think I went chip forehand cross, which I thought would be a good shot, but he played it well. He followed it in and hit a good volley.
“I can run through the match points and run them back, but I don’t think I would do much differently. It’s not as heartbreaking of a loss, if you told me I would lose 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 have a lot of regrets over how I played those match points.
“The game after on my serve, I just kind of lost my serve rhythm midway through the second set and never got it back. I was not getting the free points I needed and he was playing really good defence.”
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What is next for Taylor Fritz after losing in the Dallas Open final?
Fritz has been dealing with physical issues throughout the first two months of the 2026 season, but it appears that he is not planning to take a break anytime soon.
After reaching the final of the Dallas Open, Fritz is scheduled to compete at the ATP 250 event in Delray Beach, where he is the top seed and two-time former champion.
As the top seed, Fritz will get some extra recovery time after receiving an automatic bye to the second round, where he will play either Ethan Quinn or Rafael Jodar.
However, Fritz could then face a very tricky potential quarterfinal opponent in Tommy Paul, who he actually beat in the Delray Beach Open final in 2024.
| Delray Beach Open 2026 | Taylor Fritz’s Potential Opponent |
| First Round | Receives a bye as the top seed |
| Second Round | Ethan Quinn/Rafael Jodar |
| Quarterfinal | Tommy Paul (5)/Corentin Moutet/Gabriel Diallo/Eliot Spizzirri |
| Semifinal | Learner Tien (4)/Frances Tiafoe (8)/Miomir Kecmanovic/Aleksandar Kovacevic |
| Final | Casper Ruud (2)/Valentin Vacherot (6)/Alex Michelsen/Sebastian Korda |
Some of the other potential threats to Fritz winning the title include Casper Ruud, Learner Tien and Frances Tiafoe.
It will be important for him to have a good week in Delray Beach, as Fritz has actually fallen in the rankings this week, despite his run to the final in Dallas.
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