Dominant Tiafoe swats aside Fritz to win Halle Open

American Frances Tiafoe poses with his trophy after winning the singles final match at the ATP Terra Wortmann Open in Halle. (EPA Images pic)

HALLE: American world number 26 Frances Tiafoe has claimed the ATP tournament in Halle, a traditional Wimbledon warm-up event, after a dominant win over countryman Taylor Fritz on Sunday.

Tiafoe cruised to a 6-4, 6-4 win over the world number nine on the back of his booming serve, dropping just seven points on his own serve throughout the match.

The 28-year-old American won in one hour and seven minutes to claim the fourth title of his career, his first since 2023 and first at the ATP 500 level.

“Let’s keep going. Let’s enjoy this one. Let’s get ready for SW19 in a week,” Tiafoe said of Wimbledon, which begins on June 29.

The unseeded Tiafoe beat three top 10 players — French Open finalist and world number 10 Flavio Cobolli, world number four Felix Auger Aliassime and now the ninth-ranked Fritz — to become the first American to win the tournament.

Tiafoe had not beaten Fritz since 2016, a run of seven straight defeats including the 2024 US Open final.

The defeat continued a disappointing week for the 28-year-old Fritz.

The grass court specialist had never lost a final on the surface in his career but has now lost two in a week, after going down to fellow American Ben Shelton in the final of the Stuttgart ATP tournament last Sunday.

Fritz made the final after coming from a set down to beat freshly minted French Open champion Alexander Zverev in three sets on Saturday.

Tiafoe qualified for the showpiece after a comfortable win over German Daniel Altmaier in straight sets, losing just four games.