ATP grass court season, week one: Kamil Majchrzak takes the title in Den Bosch, and Ben Shelton shows spirit in Stuttgart
Grass court tennis is its own self-contained universe: once the sport’s dominant surface, it has long since been relegated to a mere seven tournaments on the ATP calendar (out of a total of 65).
Nonetheless, the grass court milieu remains the context for so many of the game’s universal themes: rapid serves, lengthy matches, immaculate courts, British aspiration, warm summer days.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer and tennis fan AJ Becker takes a closer look at the salient stories from the opening-week events of June 2026, in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as the Challenger contests held in the UK.
Majchrzak perseveres
Kamil Majchrzak's travails in recent years have been anything but straightforward.
After some estimable but only sporadically successful years, the Polish right-hander was suspended for the entirety of 2023 after testing positive for banned substances.
Upon his return, Majchrzak had to rebuild his career on the ITF circuit without a ranking, overcoming various fitness setbacks along the way.
His perseverance was rewarded in spectacular fashion last week at Rosmalen, as he defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur - all top 10 players - to capture his maiden tour title at the age of 30.
The success also secures a first positioning in the top 50 of the rankings - his career high point, without question.
Disappointment for de Minaur
Whilst de Minaur will naturally be disappointed at losing a final to a lower-ranked opponent, his low moments on grass have been outweighed by the plenteous portions of his career in which he has excelled on the surface.
The Queen's Club competition this week offers perhaps the Australian’s best chance yet to claim a 500-level grass event.
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Mannarino shows his grass credentials
In addition, one can only marvel at Adrian Mannarino’s perennial transmogrification from ‘hopeless’ during the clay court season to ‘dangerous’ on grass.
The Mannarino metamorphosis is in full swing again this year - a deplorable clay record (0-8) followed by a confident statement of purpose on the Dutch lawns, reaching the semi-finals.
The French veteran’s topspin-heavy style, ability to create angles and precise shot placement, have made him an assured practitioner of grass tennis despite not possessing an especially fast serve.
Mannarino is unparalleled amongst active players for having reached at least one grass quarter-final in eight consecutive seasons (2015-2023) and for 23% of all his tour wins occurring on the surface.
Dutch potential
From a host nation point of view, Dutch tennis fans will be enthused by the potential of Thijs Boogaard - the 17-year-old eliminating Yibing Wu to become the event’s youngest match winner since Sjeng Schalken in 1994 - if at least equally concerned by the form and mental state of their #1 Tallon Griekspoor.
Just as last year’s Mallorca title was followed by a downward spiral of one win in eight tournament cycles, Griekspoor’s spectacular run to the Dubai final at the end of February has given way to a dispiriting declension of two wins in eight tour events.
The Haarlem native has achieved so much on the tour since his eight Challenger trophies in 2021 (still a record for a single year), though one feels his prospects in the game wouldn’t be hurt if he had a semblance of the winning mentality for which past Dutch players such as Schalken were known.
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Shelton’s grass success
Perhaps surprisingly, Ben Shelton had made minimal impact on grass prior to last week in Stuttgart - the American left-hander advancing to the quarter-finals or better in only three of the 11 grass competitions he entered.
Even so, sticking to his signature hybrid of huge serves and powerful groundstrokes was always going to pay dividends eventually.
On the German lawns, Shelton outlasted Jiri Lehecka in a three-hour semi - saving match points - then edged out countryman Taylor Fritz in the final, as he had in Dallas four months ago.
Surface hat-trick
Rain delays meant the world No.5 played eight sets across the Saturday and Sunday, with his trademark strident shouts of “come on!” and “let’s go!” pumped to even louder levels at points.
Having claimed the Munich title on his last visit to Germany in April, the 23-year-old has now pulled off something of a “surface hat-trick” - winning titles on all three surfaces (hard, clay, and grass) in the same year.
The high quality of his performances in such a short timespan signals an all-court staying power rare amongst his compatriots.
Indeed, since Sam Querrey attained that feat in 2010, no other American man had done so.
Only the usual suspects (Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz) and a few others (David Ferrer, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Bublik) have.
Fritz grinds it out
As for Fritz, injuries have significantly affected both his form and activity on tour in recent months.
This in part explains why almost a year has passed since his last (during which time Shelton has landed four).
Nonetheless, the former US Open finalist displayed that he still has the nous to gain victories and navigate adverse situations when not playing his best tennis.
Kyrgios’ return short-lived
Stuttgart was also notable for Nick Kyrgios’ return to tour action after a five-month respite (and just seven matches played in three-and-a-half years).
Even when seemingly secure and intact, one still suspects the Australian’s every tournament appearance and press conference is a plea for mass approval.
The 31-year-old will always have his fans, and his targets; the umpire and sections of the crowd were in the line of fire during his second-round defeat to Sho Shimabukuro of Japan, and he did not spare them the edge of his tongue.
Challenger action in the UK
Finally, it is worth noting that the 2026 grass calendar offers half a dozen Challenger competitions alongside the seven tour events.
To the great gratification of British fans, four of those six tournaments take place on our shores, with three holding a ‘125 status’ - meaning the champion receives 125 ranking points (enough for the world #150 to rise to #120 based on the current rankings).
Lack of British success
The grass season can sometimes be the most reliable source of British success in an entire year.
With a sizable chunk of the main draw fields of 32 at both the Birmingham and Ilkley events (11 at the former, 7 at the latter) playing under the GB flag, there was genuine hope that at least some of our competitors would make a deep impression on proceedings.
Indeed, standout moments from a local perspective included Arthur Fery achieving his second Challenger semi of the year at the Midlands tournament, whilst Jacob Fearnley brought his considerable higher-level experience to the fore in Yorkshire, reaching the final.
However, an overall record of 14-17 across both contests (in terms of Brits versus overseas opponents) has to be seen as a disappointment.
2026 may turn out similar to previous years, in which the lacklustre displays of home players in grass Challenger events were a sign (some might say warning) of what was to come at Queen's Club and Wimbledon.
In particular, it does not bode well that Italian qualifier Filippo Romano - ranked outside the Top 350 and with zero grass experience - was able to take out four local players at Ilkley.
As it happened, both events were won by China’s Yunchaokete Bu - instigating a rankings leap of almost 60 places.
His was a rare multiple title surge on grass in the same year - since the 2009 revamp of the Challenger tour, something accomplished only by Brits Andy Murray (2023) and soon-to-be-retired Dan Evans (2019), as well as Bu’s countryman Lu Yen-hsun a decade ago.
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