Frances Tiafoe claimed her maiden title on grass on Sunday, saving match point to defeat Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in the Stuttgart final.
The American went 4-6, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (10/8) and will break into the world top 10 for the first time on Monday, joining eighth-ranked compatriot Taylor Fritz among the top flight . .
The last time the United States had two men in the top 10 at the same time was in July 2011 thanks to Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick.
Tiafoe held off 28 aces from Struff as he tried to become the first home champion since Michael Stich in 1991.
Tiafoe, 25, saved the championship point at 6/7 in the third-set tie-break en route to claiming her second title of 2023 after Houston in April and the third of her career.
He landed a diving lunge on his third match point, passing the ball just over the net for the win after two hours and 12 minutes on the pitch.
“I had to give my all on the match point,” he said. “I hit an overhead but he got there. I had to dive and I was very lucky. I was really happy to win.”
Tiafoe will have little time to celebrate with a flight to London to catch in time for the start of next week’s Queen’s Club Wimbledon tune-up tournament.
Struff, 33 and ranked 24th, captivated a sold-out crowd at the Weissenhof club by delivering 28 aces but still missed the first title of his career.
He was a semi-finalist in 2019. The last German to reach a final in Stuttgart was Philipp Kohlschreiber, who lost in 2016 to Dominic Thiem.
“It was an incredible match,” said Tiafoe, playing in her seventh career final.
“I didn’t break it for two hours, ‘Struffie’ was serving well today.
He added: “It was just super tough. On that match point, I don’t know how I got the ball over the net, but I’ll take it.
“It’s good to walk away with the title.”
str/dj