Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton Advance to BMW Open Semifinals

You know, I’m not exactly what you’d call an expert on tennis, but here we go anyway. Something about the chill in Munich air made the clay courts a tad bit more interesting this Friday. Imagine being there bundled up—kind of nasty and exhilarating at the same time. Anyway, Ben Shelton, probably the cool American guy you’d want to hang with… or maybe not, depending on how you feel about people who win things, hit the courts and kicked Luciano Darderi out in a way that looked both graceful and intense. I mean, 29 winners, folks. That’s like when your playlist is fire and every song is a hit.

He’s having quite a run though — last year he snagged the Houston clay title too (guess red dirt doesn’t scare him, huh?). Now he’s gonna lock horns with Francisco Cerundolo from Argentina. Oh, fun fact—before all this racket and racquet stuff, Shelton hit a soccer match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Bet that was nuts. A 2-2 draw, if football’s your thing. Ever been to a game where the energy just hits you like a wave? Anyway, focus. So, Claudio’s on to face Shelton after putting David Goffin through a less-than-pleasant 6-2, 6-4… oof.

And Alexander Zverev, the top dog here, didn’t have it easy but, man did he pull through against Tallon Griekspoor. Imagine that—fighting through three sets, each like a mini roller coaster of emotions. Zverev’s heading towards either Fabian Marozsan or Zizou Bergs now. Two names that sound like they came from a spy novel. Expecting drama, are we? Guess we’ll see.

But back to Shelton. We’re talking about a guy who kind of drifted off to watch soccer and then bam, here he is taking out folks like it’s Tuesday laundry. Life’s weird like that, no? Just keeps flipping drama at ya when you least expect. Or maybe that’s just me with my endless tangents. Anyway — and seriously, where was I? Tennis, right. Endless volleys, nerve-wracking tiebreaks, and people in the crowd chewing on their scarves. Classic stuff.