Berrettini breaks Shapovalov duck for Stuttgart QF spot; Shelton falls

Matteo Berrettini added another stylish win to his dominant record at the BOSS OPEN on Thursday afternoon.

The 2019 and 2022 champion at the grass-court ATP 250 defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4 with a rock-solid second-round display. It was Berrettini’s first victory in three Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings between the two players, and he is now 11-1 in Stuttgart.

“I knew that I hadn’t beaten him,” said Berrettini in his post-match interview. “[We played] two really tough matches, but they were a long time ago. I knew that I had to play my best tennis in order to beat him, and I did today.

“I know that so far in my career I’ve been pretty successful on grass. I think it’s my best surface, and I love to play especially here in Stuttgart. I’m really happy to be in the quarter-finals. Now I need to rest a little bit and wait until tomorrow to think about tomorrow.”

Taking care of business 💼@MattBerrettini cruises to a 6-4 6-4 victory over Shapovalov.@boss__open | #BOSSOPEN pic.twitter.com/Ro8X1xXzCO

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 13, 2024

The 28-year-old Berrettini, who reached the Wimbledon final in 2021, is this week competing for the first time since April’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. He missed Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros but has made a strong return on the grass, a surface on which he excels.

“I put a lot of focus on my serve,” said Berrettini, who won 85 per cent (33/39) of points behind his first delivery against Shapovalov, according to Infosys ATP Stats. “Especially here, it is really important to make him feel the pressure. Also when he’s serving, so he knows that he cannot get broken, otherwise he is going to be in trouble.

“Coming in with the slice is [also] something I like to do on grass. Against a left-hander with a one-handed backhand, it’s something that today was really useful. We practised it a little yesterday and this morning, and it worked.”

Aiming for his seventh win in as many tour-level quarter-finals on grass, Berrettini will next play qualifier James Duckworth, who earned his first Top 20 victory since 2021 by upsetting second seed Ben Shelton 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3.

Despite the American’s 21 aces, Duckworth applied pressure on the lefty’s second serve. Having won 60 per cent of his second-serve return points, the 32-year-old Australian is into his third quarter-final of the season.

Last year's finalist Jan-Lennard Struff, also advanced to the quarter-finals on Thursday. The home favourite downed Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 7-6(0) to reach the quarter-finals for the third time in his past four appearances at the event.

Struff will take on Brandon Nakashima in the last eight, after the American overcame Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4. Having begun the year as the World No. 134, the 22-year-old Nakashima has risen two spots to No. 68 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings as a result of his Stuttgart run so far.