HALLE WESTFALEN, Germany: American Taylor Fritz battled past Ben Shelton in three sets on Friday to reach the semifinals in Halle five days after losing the title match to his countryman in Stuttgart. World number nine Fritz won 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/3) in two hours and 45 minutes in the traditional Wimbledon warm-up ATP event. Shelton, the world number five, beat the 29-year-old Fritz to claim his first career title on grass in the Stuttgart ATP tournament last Sunday. It was a battle between the two American big servers, neither player was broken throughout the match, with each set win coming through tiebreaks. Shelton triumphed in the opening set.