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ATP/WTA : Shelton, Vekic, Majchrzak et Montgomery, grass crowns its unlikely heroes

ATP/WTA : Shelton, Vekic, Majchrzak et Montgomery, grass crowns its unlikely heroes

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  1. 1 A finals day, four very different stories
  2. 2 In Stuttgart, Shelton came through the chaos
  3. 3 The first grass title for a player learning fast
  4. 4 Trinity Rodman, the good-luck charm, and he knows it
  5. 5 Vekic, the lucky loser who became queen of Queen’s
  6. 6 Raducanu fights back, Vekic refuses to fold
  7. 7 Vekic, and the emotion of a player who had to dig out
  8. 8 Majchrzak, 30 years old, tears, and a first trophy
  9. 9 “Without them, I’d have quit a long time ago”
  10. 10 Montgomery crowned without a final, but not without merit
  11. 11 Grass courts love a messy story

A finals day, four very different stories

The grass season has that slightly brutal charm: it arrives fast, gives you barely time to draw breath, and loves to blow up the script. On Sunday, across Stuttgart, Queen’s and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the tour served up a perfect snapshot of what this surface can do: a young American champion backing it up, a lucky loser finding a second life, a 30-year-old Pole in tears after the first title of his career, and an American crowned without even stepping on court after a last-minute withdrawal.

Ben Shelton claimed his first grass-court title in Stuttgart. Donna Vekic turned a reprieve into a fairytale at Queen’s. Kamil Majchrzak lived the best week of his career in the Netherlands. Robin Montgomery, meanwhile, landed her first WTA trophy without a final being played.

Four titles. Four emotions. And one clear message: with Wimbledon only weeks away, the grass has already started telling its stories.

In Stuttgart, Shelton came through the chaos

Ben Shelton did not have an easy week in Germany. That may be exactly why the title feels so big. The American had to save a match point in the second round, then two more in the semi-finals. Three moments that could have sent him out of the tournament. Three points where his week could have ended. Three times, he survived.

In the final, he faced Taylor Fritz, the defending champion, second seed and a man made for grass. A much-hyped all-American battle between two big servers, two top-10 players and two men built to do damage on a fast court.

Shelton won 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in 1hr 48min. Not a stroll. Not even close. A proper final, full of swings, runs and service games played with a knife at the throat.

The first grass title for a player learning fast

The match began perfectly for Shelton, who broke at 1-1 and then held firm to take the opener. Fritz answered in the second set like a man in charge, breaking straight away, raising the tempo and taking control to level the match.

It looked as if the defending champion’s experience might tell. But Shelton found his rhythm again in the third. Up to 4-4, the two Americans traded blows. Then the younger man struck at exactly the right time: the decisive break, then the finish on his own serve.

With this win, Shelton takes the sixth title of his career, the third of 2026 after Dallas and Munich, and, most importantly, his first on grass. It’s a serious statement. He is no longer just a shotmaker, a burst of energy, a left arm that can spit out aces. He’s becoming a player who knows how to win in messy weeks.

Trinity Rodman, the good-luck charm, and he knows it

Shelton’s win also had a softer side. During the trophy ceremony, he thanked his partner Trinity Rodman, the US women’s football star, who flew in from Brazil to support him in Stuttgart.

Shelton called her his “good-luck charm”, saying that every tournament she attends, he ends up winning the title. Light-hearted, almost private, but it gave the victory another edge. Behind the thunderous serve, behind the roar, behind all the firepower, there was also a player lifted by someone important in the stands.

And sometimes, in a week where you have to save three match points just to get to the finish, that counts too.

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Vekic, the lucky loser who became queen of Queen’s

In London, Donna Vekic produced one of the wildest stories of the week. The Croatian should not even have been in the Queen’s main draw. Brought in as a lucky loser after qualifying, she turned her second chance into a title.

In the final against Emma Raducanu, Vekic came out playing like a woman possessed. First set: 6-0 in 30 minutes. Maximum aggression, 92% of points won behind her first serve, and a Raducanu who looked a shadow of herself and was clearly struggling, forced to call for a medical timeout while trailing 5-0.

It was all moving far too quickly for the Briton. Too heavy, too clean, too much to handle.

Raducanu fights back, Vekic refuses to fold

But a home final does not just roll over. In the second set, Raducanu found some life. She broke, took command and moved 5-2 ahead. The London crowd could already smell a decider.

Vekic, though, would not play the victim in someone else’s comeback story. She dragged herself back point by point, levelled at 5-5, then moved ahead 6-5. Raducanu saved two match points to force a tie-break, but the Croatian had too much hunger.

In a tense breaker, helped at times by a little luck on a few lines, Vekic kept swinging. She closed it out on her fifth match point, 6-0, 7-6, after 1hr 48min.

Her fifth WTA title. First since Monterrey in 2023. First WTA 500 crown. And a rise from No. 76 to No. 32 in the world.

Vekic, and the emotion of a player who had to dig out

This title clearly meant more. Vekic has had a rough patch, slipping outside the top 100 and having to go back through qualifying this season. At Queen’s, she reminded everyone she still has the kind of game that can hit very hard indeed.

After the win, she paid tribute to her childhood coach, David, who had been working with her since she was 12. She called him two weeks earlier for help on grass. He said yes. A few days later, she was lifting the trophy.

Vekic also pointed to the importance of women now being able to compete at a club as iconic as Queen’s, a venue long reserved for men in this part of the calendar. And she did not forget Raducanu, still without a title since her US Open win in 2021 but in a second final of the season.

The Briton, for her part, preferred to take the positives: after months away from the court because of a viral illness, reaching two finals is a pretty decent return.

Majchrzak, 30 years old, tears, and a first trophy

In ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Kamil Majchrzak lived a week nobody can take away from him. At 30, ranked No. 76 in the world, the Pole won his first ATP title by beating Alex de Minaur, the world No. 6 and second seed, in a final that went right down to the wire: 6-3, 2-6, 7-6, after 2hr 25min.

His path to the title was almost as good as the title itself. To get there, Majchrzak beat Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev and De Minaur. Three big names, three seeds, three wins that gave the run a near-novelistic feel.

The final had everything: a first set controlled by the Pole, a sharp response from De Minaur, then a third set full of tension. Majchrzak broke at 3-3, De Minaur answered immediately, and it all came down to a tie-break that the Pole won 7-5.

“Without them, I’d have quit a long time ago”

After match point, Majchrzak did not try to hide it. Face buried in his towel, then a long embrace with his coach. At 30, after the setbacks, the doubts and the weeks away from the spotlight, he finally had his moment.

His speech was one of the strongest of the day. He thanked his team, his family and everyone who had pushed him through the good times and the bad. Without them, he said, he would probably have stopped long ago.

That kind of line gives a trophy more weight. For some, an ATP 250 is just another line on the record. For Majchrzak, it is proof of survival. A late reward, but a huge one.

He also becomes the third Polish player of the Open era to win a main-tour title.

Montgomery crowned without a final, but not without merit

Still in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the women’s event ended in a strange way. Barbora Krejcikova was due to face Robin Montgomery in the WTA 250 final, but the Czech player, unwell and struggling with breathing problems, pulled out just minutes before the match.

So Montgomery, 21, ranked 484th in the world, picks up the first WTA title of her career without hitting a ball in the final.

A frustrating end for the show, obviously, but this wasn’t some gift from nowhere. The American had to come through qualifying, then shock Daria Kasatkina in the first round, 5-7, 6-0, 6-4, before rolling on without dropping a set all the way to the final.

She didn’t lift her first trophy the way she’d pictured it, racket in hand after a match point. But the run is still huge. At her ranking, a week like that on grass can turn a season, and sometimes even a career.

Grass courts love a messy story

Shelton as the favourite survives three match points before beating Fritz. Vekic, brought back in and flying after the opening set against Raducanu, hangs on through the storm. Majchrzak waits 30 years for his first title and takes down three heavyweights. Montgomery crowned after a withdrawal, but carried by a near-perfect qualifying run.

Sunday made one thing clear: on grass, everything can flip in a flash. A low skid, a first serve that bites, a tie-break that goes your way, a second chance snapped up at the death, and the whole season looks different.

Wimbledon is coming soon.

But before London gets going, Stuttgart, Queen’s and ‘s-Hertogenbosch have already produced their heroes.

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