Halle Open Final: Tiafoe Ends Fritz Hoodoo with Straight-Sets Victory

Frances Tiafoe stuns Taylor Fritz to claim biggest career title at Halle Open

Halle Open final report: Tiafoe snapped a 7-match losing streak vs Fritz to win the ATP 500 grass title, becoming the first American champion in Halle since 1993.

Tiafoe beats Fritz 6-4, 6-4 to win Halle Open and first title in 3 years...

Frances Tiafoe beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in the Halle Open final on Sunday. It’s the biggest title of his career, his first in three years, and he’s the first American to win the ATP 500 grass event since 1993.

Tiafoe came out firing and grabbed an early break. He stayed calm on serve the whole set and never let Fritz find any rhythm.

Tiafoe rode that wave into the second set, breaking early again and controlling rallies from the baseline. He closed it out to end the match and snapped a seven-match skid against Fritz that had lasted since their first meeting in 2016.

“I don’t even know what clip ‌I was serving in the first set, but ⁠I felt like I ‌couldn’t miss one,” Tiafoe said.

“I returned really well. I had no troubles on my serve the whole match, and it just feels good to get this done.

“He’s a hell of a player and a hell of a competitor, too. I knew he was going to make it hard out there ⁠at the end, and I played some great tennis. Luck was on my way a little bit.”

The 28-year-old was dominant on serve in the final, losing only seven points. It capped a perfect first run at the German grass tournament, gave him his fourth career title, and ended a three-year wait for silverware.

He also took down three top-10 players this week - including world No. 10 Flavio Cobolli and No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Before Sunday, Tiafoe was 0-4 in finals above ATP 250 level. That included losing to Fritz in Tokyo back in 2022. He also came off a brutal 5-hour, 26-minute fourth-round defeat to Matteo Arnaldi at Roland Garros just a couple weeks ago.

“This is big. I just want to say one of my favourite scriptures: 'The pain that you’re feeling ‌does not compare to the joy that is coming.' Obviously, that has been proven very true,” Tiafoe said.

“It’s something I’ve been living by.”

With the Halle title, Tiafoe jumps nine spots to No. 19 in the ATP rankings on Monday. That boost sets him up well heading into Wimbledon, which starts June 29th.