Shelton wins grass-court premiere in Stuttgart – Struff and Hanfmann claim doubles title

The success in Stuttgart fits into the strong phase of the young American's season: just under two months earlier, Shelton had won a clay-court tournament in Munich. Now, "two weeks before the start of Wimbledon, he showed brilliant form" and underlined his ambitions for the grass-court classic in London. The Stuttgart tournament is considered an important dress rehearsal for the third Grand Slam event of the year.

Zverevs Absage und der Blick auf Wimbledon

Germany's top player Alexander Zverev was absent this time, after having celebrated his first Grand Slam title at the French Open in Paris the day before the Stuttgart tournament began. His triumph at Roland Garros also explained why the home crowd in Stuttgart had to do without his appearance.

Struff und Hanfmann sorgen für deutschen Doppelerfolg

Another German success story came in the doubles: Jan-Lennard Struff and Yannick Hanfmann surprisingly celebrated the doubles title. The duo prevailed in the final against Stefanos Sakellaridis from Greece and Daniil Glinka from Estonia 7:6 (7:2), 3:6, and 11:9 in the match tiebreak. After winning the first set and losing the second, the German team took the decisive match tiebreak 11:9.

Prominente Gäste auf der Tribüne

Under the eyes of tennis icon Boris Becker and football record national player Lothar Matthäus, Struff and Hanfmann converted their match point and thus secured the second title of the weekend for the German colors. The two veterans, who rarely take center stage in singles, seized their opportunity in the doubles competition and capped off a strong tournament week.

Overall, the Stuttgart tournament at the Weissenhof facility offered a program with double premiere power: Shelton's first grass-court title and the surprising German doubles success by Struff and Hanfmann. For the coming weeks, the tennis world's attention now turns to Wimbledon, where the next test on the fast surface awaits from the end of June.