June 14 (Reuters) - American ⁠Ben Shelton defeated compatriot and ⁠defending champion Taylor Fritz 6-4 2-6 ‌6-4 to win the Stuttgart Open on Sunday, claiming his first title on grass.

The 23-year-old, ​ranked world number five, ⁠had to dig ⁠deep on his serve, saving nine of ⁠the ‌11 break points he faced.

It was Shelton's sixth career ⁠title and his third this season following ​wins ‌in Dallas and Munich.

"It means a ⁠lot to ​me," Shelton said. "Certainly a difficult week, not an easy week to get ⁠through. I'm pretty exhausted, but ​to play the way I did against the quality of opponents I played ⁠in very tight matches and getting a win today against one of the best grass-court players in the ​world is a huge ⁠boost."

The only other player to have won ​three titles this ‌season is Italian world ​number one Jannik Sinner.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Chopra)