“Reflexes are going to have to be 10 out of 10”: Alcaraz chases first Paris title against Shelton, his US Open conqueror
Carlos Alcaraz is one win away from a first Rolex Paris Masters title. Standing in his way is Ben Shelton, who beat him in a five-set US Open quarter-final and whose serve will be even more dangerous on the quick Paris court.
Shelton – Alcaraz, 2026 US Open | © PsNewz
Carlos Alcaraz is one win away from a first Rolex Paris Masters title, and the man standing in his way beat him the last time they met. Ben Shelton won their US Open quarter-final 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7), and the court in Paris is quick.
“I expect something kind of similar, to be honest. A battle,” Alcaraz said to a question of Tennis Majors after beating Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4. “The court is pretty quick, so his serve is going to be more dangerous. The best thing is that I know it, so I will try to prepare myself the best that I can. Reflexes are going to have to be 10 out of 10 if I want to return his serve.”
“He’s been playing great,” he added about Shelton. “He’s been really solid from the baseline and with the serve. I think he’s doing a lot of damage to his opponents in every match.”
Both men reached the final on Saturday in very different ways. Alcaraz beat Ruud without facing a break point, breaking at 3-3 in the first set and at 4-4 in the second. Shelton dropped the first set to Luca Van Assche and trailed 3-1 in the decider, but broke straight back and again at 3-3 to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Each of them is playing his sixth final of the season, level with Jannik Sinner for the most on tour in 2026.
Alcaraz leads their head-to-head 3-1. He won in Toronto in 2023, at the Laver Cup in 2024 and in the last 16 at Roland-Garros in 2025, 7-6 (8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Shelton won the most recent meeting, in New York.
Alcaraz: “It came down to small details”
Alcaraz has not forgotten New York. “The last time I played him, at the US Open, in the heat, it was pretty tough physically, pretty tough mentally,” he said on court. “I’m ready. I’m going to try to do things a little bit better than in that match. I’ve been watching his matches, his level is pretty high right now, he has a lot of confidence. His serve is going to be really tough to return, but I’m going to try whatever it takes. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be fun to watch, and I’m going to enjoy every second.”
In Spanish, he went back over that defeat. “He beat me playing great tennis, and it also came down to small details,” Alcaraz said. “We’re going to try to do those small details better in the important moments, so that the opportunities don’t slip away. He is where he is because he deserves it.”
“I will try to improve the little things that I didn’t do well in the last match, and try to play my best,” he said. “Otherwise, I think he’s going to beat me. He’s one of the best talents we have in tennis right now. So I will try to be focused, to be prepared.”
Whatever the result, he knows how he wants to approach it. “Play aggressive, enjoy it,” he said in Spanish. “And if I lose, have the feeling that I did the things I had to do, and that I enjoyed it.”
Two of the season’s most consistent finalists
Alcaraz arrived in Paris as the Vienna champion, after beating Alex de Minaur 6-1, 6-4 in the final, his fourth title of the season. In the quarter-finals in Paris, he saved two match points to beat Taylor Fritz 6-7 (10), 7-5, 6-3. This is his 11th Masters 1000 final, and Paris is the seventh different Masters 1000 event where he has reached one. He is the fourth Spanish finalist in the tournament’s history, after Sergio Casal in 1986, Rafael Nadal in 2007 and David Ferrer in 2012 and 2013.
Shelton has won titles in Dallas, Munich, Stuttgart and at the Masters 1000 in Montreal this season, and lost the US Open final to Alexander Zverev. His record in finals is 7-3. He is the first American in the Paris final since Jack Sock in 2017, and the first American man to reach more than one Masters 1000 final in a season since Andy Roddick in 2010. Victory would bring him a third Masters 1000 title, after Toronto in 2025 and Montreal this year.
Both men have already qualified for the ATP Finals in Turin, Alcaraz for a fifth consecutive year. Sunday will decide which of them heads there with a Masters 1000 trophy, and whether New York was a turning point in their rivalry or an exception.
Alcaraz’s path to the final
Second round: d. Alex Michelsen 7-6 (4), 6-3
Third round: d. Matteo Berrettini w/o
Quarter-final: d. Taylor Fritz (11) 6-7 (10), 7-5, 6-3
Semi-final: d. Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4
Shelton’s path to the final
Second round: d. Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4
Third round: d. Arthur Rinderknech 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Quarter-final: d. Tommy Paul (12) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Semi-final: d. Luca Van Assche 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
