BMW Munich Open Final Round-up | Ben Shelton prevails in Germany for second clay title against Flavio Cobolli

Ben Shelton prevailed on the clay courts at the BMW Munich Open with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Flavio Cobolli as he made up for the final defeat last year.

In 2025, he faced off against home hero Alexander Zverev with the title being cruelly taken away from him by the German. This time, he was not going to allow those events to occur with a supreme week.

The pair have faced off five prior times, with Shelton winning the last three meetings which came in 2025. Cobolli was desperate to get the better of him at a pretty crucial occasion with silverware on the line. However, Shelton showed his skill on clay as he raced through to win a very commanding first set via a lot of drama. The second set firmly stayed on serve right until the end. A late break slowed Shelton to serve it out for a second title in 2026 and a second on clay.

Shelton raced out ahead in the start of the contest, but it was not as easy as it seemed on paper. He began with an ominous break of the Cobolli serve before coming severely under the cosh on his. In total, six consecutive break points were created by the Italian and all six were successfully defended. Shelton managed to secure a vital and hard-fought hold before rubbing salt into the wound with a break to love.

A more commanding hold followed for the American who was loving life when 4-0 ahead. He knew that Cobolli was a dangerous competitor and that he was in need to slam the door shut before he attempts to make a dent in the double-break advantage Shelton was sitting on.

Cobolli got a first game on the board right before Shelton edged within one of the set. However, deja-vu emerged in the seventh game of this final. Shelton sored into a 0-40 advantage. It seemed almost inevitable that he would get over the line triumphant, but this was not the case at first. Cobolli saved six set points before finally holding. It took Shelton another three on his serve to finally get it under his belt, utilising a ninth set point opportunity to sail ahead in this final showdown.

The second set commenced routinely on serve. In the first five games, just three points went against the serve and all on Shelton’s. Cobolli offered nothing on his, holding to love on three separate occasions in a statement of intent.

Shelton replied with a hold of love of his own with the second set trudging to 5-5 with no break points being created. This was until Shelton looked to take a huge step towards the title. He created the first break point of the match and colly converted it expertly. He moved 6-5 ahead and was looking to serve it out. This was done with a four-point flurry to win his fifth ATP title in commanding fashion.