Alcaraz beats Shelton 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 to claim first Paris Masters title
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Ben Shelton 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 to win the Paris Masters title on Sunday, securing his first triumph at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris.
Alcaraz returned to competition in September after a four-month layoff with a wrist injury and reached the US Open quarter-finals, where he lost an epic five-set match to Shelton 60 days before Sunday’s final. The 23-year-old had not previously progressed beyond the quarter-finals in Paris and had won three titles while losing only once in 17 matches in the two months since the US Open.
The opening set was tense: Alcaraz saved all six break points against him and prevailed in the tie-break, taking four of the final five points from 4-3 down to win it 7-6 (7-5). Shelton also resisted pressure, seeing off two break points, but could not convert enough chances to claim the first set.
In the second set Shelton capitalised when Alcaraz erred in the third service game, but as Shelton served for a 5-3 lead Alcaraz struck back and then held after pointing to his ear to urge the crowd on. Alcaraz closed the match on his second match point, embraced his team courtside and finished by winning five of the final six games.
The victory was Alcaraz’s ninth ATP Masters 1000 title overall and means he has now won seven of the nine ATP Masters 1000 events. The Spaniard, a seven-time major winner, began the year by becoming the youngest man in history to complete the career Grand Slam at the Australian Open and the Paris success was described by his team as confirmation he is fully fit and ready to compete for major prizes in 2027.
Shelton, the rising American who reached his first major final this year, entered the match after a season in which he won four titles and continued to show the form that took him to the US Open final. Despite that pedigree, he was unable to overturn Alcaraz in straight sets in Paris.
Great Britain’s Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara secured the year-end world number one doubles ranking for the first time after reaching the Paris semi-finals, a result that also clinched their place at the ATP Finals. The Wimbledon champions, who teamed up in 2024, reclaimed Wimbledon this summer and also won titles in Adelaide, Doha, Dubai and Madrid. Patten said: "It's an incredible achievement, one that goes to the very top of my list of best achievements as a tennis player. "When I look back on the journey me and Harri have been on together when we started in 2024, I was ranked around number 60 in the world and Harri was around 40. "In two years we've worked incredibly hard and to go from where we started to where we are now, on top of the world, is beautiful." Heliovaara said: "One of the crazy dreams comes true again. A few years ago I would have never imagined this could be possible."
Alcaraz will head to the ATP Finals in Turin on a nine-match winning streak, having won in Vienna immediately before Paris; two days earlier he had saved two match points to beat Taylor Fritz, and this Paris title was the fourth time in his career that he has won a tournament after facing match points down.
