Carlos Alcaraz beats Ben Shelton to win Paris Masters title

Carlos Alcaraz, the 23‑year‑old Spaniard who is ranked world number three, defeated world number four Ben Shelton 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 on Sunday to secure his first Paris Masters 1000 crown. The victory came after Alcaraz avenged the five‑set loss to Shelton at the US Open quarter‑finals two months earlier and marked his ninth 1000‑level title overall.

Alcaraz entered Paris having won three titles in the previous two months and nine consecutive matches, including a 500‑level triumph in Vienna. He has now claimed seven of the nine ATP Masters 1000 events he has contested and is unbeaten in Paris title matches after also winning two French Opens. The Spaniard will head to the ATP Finals in Turin from 15‑22 November, where he hopes to add a season‑ending crown. Earlier in the tournament he saved match points against Taylor Fritz in the quarter‑finals, echoing his dramatic Roland Garros final win against Jannik Sinner last year.

Alcaraz said: "It's something I've been chasing for a long time. I had some of the toughest losses of my career here. Today was one of the toughest challenges we have in tennis right now, facing Ben. Great champion, great player, great person. He is doing better and better every tournament. From here, it is going to be even tougher facing him. I'm just really happy that I finally got it. This tournament is really special." He added after receiving the trophy from former champion Boris Becker: “Coming here every year, not finding my best tennis but we never gave up,” and later smiled: “We had really painful losses here and we always said try again.”