Alcaraz Wins First Paris Masters Title, Beating Shelton 7-6, 7-5 for a Ninth Masters 1000 Crown

Carlos Alcaraz finally has his Paris Masters title, and he got it against the man who ended his US Open defence two months ago. The 23-year-old Spaniard beat Ben Shelton 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 on Sunday at the Plenitude Arena in Nanterre, collecting a ninth Masters 1000 crown at his sixth attempt in the French capital.

A rematch with a lot of history

The final carried obvious baggage. In September, Alcaraz was only just back from months out with a wrist injury when Shelton knocked him out of the US Open quarter-finals in a five-set marathon that lasted around four and a half hours. Since then Alcaraz has lost just once in 17 matches and won three titles, including 500-level events in Tokyo and Vienna.

The Paris final was a very different contest, finishing in just under two hours. Alcaraz said afterwards that facing Shelton was “one of the toughest challenges we have in tennis right now” and predicted the American would only get harder to beat. “It’s something I’ve been chasing for a long time,” he said, recalling some of the toughest losses of his career in this event.

How the Paris Masters title was won

Little separated the two through the first set. Alcaraz saved all six break points he faced, and Shelton fended off two of his own. The tie-break decided it, and Shelton’s forehand let him down. By the Guardian’s count he overshot the baseline three times there, while Alcaraz won four of the last five points from 4-3 down.

The second set swung on a few games. Shelton broke for 3-2 after Alcaraz was undone by double faults and loose groundstrokes, but Alcaraz broke straight back to level at 4-4. He then asked the crowd for more noise and danced to the music at the changeover. Serving to stay in the match, Shelton sent two more forehands astray, and Alcaraz clinched it on his second match point with another forehand winner. He won five of the last six games.

The win also leaves Alcaraz unbeaten in finals in Paris, after his two French Open titles. As at Roland Garros, he got there by surviving match points, this time two against Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals. He is the first Spaniard to win the event since David Ferrer in 2012, and Boris Becker handed him the trophy.

Turin next, with Sinner’s Masters 1000 record in sight

Alcaraz arrives at the ATP Finals in Turin, which run from November 15 to 22, on a nine-match winning streak. He has won five tour-level titles this year, behind only the injured Jannik Sinner on six. He has also won seven of the nine different Masters 1000 tournaments. Only Canada and Shanghai are missing, and with them he could become the third man after Novak Djokovic and Sinner to win all nine.

For Shelton, the world number four, it was a first defeat in a Masters final after he won both of his earlier ones, at the last two Canadian Opens. He has had a strong year, with four titles and a first major final. Both players have qualified for Turin, so a quick rematch is possible. After that comes the Davis Cup finals later this month, but Alcaraz’s focus will be on finishing a year that began with a career Grand Slam in Australia on a high.

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File photo: Carlos Alcaraz Roland Garros 2025 (cropped).jpg by Like tears in rain

derivative work: Kacir, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.