Carlos Alcaraz reached his first Paris Masters final with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Casper Ruud on Saturday, setting up a rematch against Ben Shelton. The 23-year-old Spaniard, ranked world number three, needed just 86 minutes to dispatch the Norwegian, winning 86% of points on his first serve, striking 20 winners — 13 off the forehand — and claiming 11 of 13 points at the net.
Alcaraz's path to the final included a dramatic quarter‑final escape against Taylor Fritz, where he saved two match points. Since his US Open quarter‑final loss to Shelton in September — a five‑set epic that finished at 03:34 local time — Alcaraz has lost only one of 16 matches and rides an eight‑match winning streak that includes a title in Vienna last week.
"I'm ready to take on Ben Shelton in the final. It is probably one of the most difficult challenges you can face in tennis right now," Alcaraz said. "Ben is playing great tennis. Last time, it was a hell of a match. But I'm going to enjoy this moment because I was chasing the final here for a long time. It is going to be a big day for me."
Shelton, 24 and ranked fourth, became the first American man to reach the Paris Masters final since 2017 after a 5-7 6-3 6-4 comeback win over Frenchman Luca van Assche. The US Open runner‑up has amassed a career‑best 45 tour‑level wins in 2026 and recently added Alcaraz's former coach Juan Carlos Ferrero to his team.
"Obviously Carlos is in amazing form. He's a young legend in our sport already and any match he is in is blockbuster," Shelton said. The pair have split their four previous meetings, with Alcaraz winning the first three before Shelton's breakthrough victory in New York.
