Ben Shelton wins biggest clay-court title for an American man since Andre Agassi in 2002

World No. 6 Ben Shelton just achieved something that no American man has done in 24 years, since before he himself was even born—win a clay-court title above the ATP 250 level.

The 23-year-old lefty captured the ATP 500 crown on the clay of Munich, Germany on Sunday, defeating Flavio Cobolli in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, for the biggest clay-court title of his career.

And it’s the biggest clay-court title any American man has won since eight-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1 Andre Agassi won the Masters 1000 event in Rome in May of 2002.

Shelton was born five months later, in October of 2002.

Shelton had some close battles en route to the title, getting pushed to three sets twice in his first three matches—he rallied from an early break down in the third set to defeat countryman Emilio Nava in the first round, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3, then survived another three-setter against Joao Fonseca in the quarterfinals, eventually outslugging the Brazilian rising star, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

And even though the final was straight sets, it was a battle, too, as Shelton needed nine set points to close Cobolli out the first set, then was two points away from dropping the second set—serving at 4-5, 0-30—before holding, breaking and serving it out.

With that, the American men’s No. 1 captured the fifth ATP title of his career, having previously won one Masters 1000 title in Toronto last year, two ATP 500s in Tokyo in 2023 and Dallas this year, and one ATP 250—which was also on clay—in 2024.

He'll stay at No. 6 when the new ATP rankings are released on Monday, but he'll now be very close to returning to his career-high of No. 5, going from 200 points behind current No. 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime to just 30 points behind (4,100 to 4,070).

Of the three levels of ATP tournaments on clay courts higher than ATP 250—ATP 500, Masters 1000 and Grand Slam—Agassi remains the last American man to win two of them.

As already mentioned, he was the last man to win a Masters 1000 on clay, at Rome in 2002. He was also the last American man to win a Grand Slam on clay, when he won Roland Garros in 1999.

Before Shelton on Sunday, the last American man to win an ATP 500-level title on clay was two-time Grand Slam finalist and former No. 4 Todd Martin, when he won Barcelona in 1998.