Carlos Alcaraz ended his long wait for a title in Paris on Sunday, beating Ben Shelton 7-6(5), 7-5 in the final of the Paris Masters to lift the trophy for the first time in his career.
The 23-year-old Spaniard, the second seed, held his nerve in two tight sets at the Paris La Défense Arena, sealing the win in just under two hours. It was his ninth Masters 1000 crown, his fifth title of the season and the 29th tour title of his career.
FAKTA
- Event: Rolex Paris Masters, ATP Masters 1000
- Final: Carlos Alcaraz beat Ben Shelton 7-6(5), 7-5
- Date: Sunday, 8 November 2026
- Venue: Paris La Défense Arena, Nanterre, indoor hard court
- Duration: just under two hours
- Seeds: Alcaraz second seed, world No. 3; Shelton third seed, world No. 4
- Alcaraz in 2026: fifth title of the season, ninth Masters 1000 crown, 29th career tour title
- Winning run: nine matches in a row
- Next: ATP Finals, Turin, 15–22 November
A final decided by the smallest margins
There was almost nothing between the two players for most of the evening. Shelton, playing in his first Paris final, led 4-3 at one stage of the first-set tiebreak, but Alcaraz steadied himself and took it 7-5.
The second set followed a similar pattern. Shelton struck first, yet Alcaraz found a way back, broke at 6-5 and closed out the match with a flicked backhand winner that brought the crowd to its feet.
Former champion Boris Becker presented the trophy to Alcaraz, who raised his arms to the arena as the cheers rolled around the court.
Alcaraz and Shelton traded long rallies under the roof in Paris before the Spaniard closed out the final in straight sets.
Paris Masters title settles a score from New York
The win carried extra meaning for Alcaraz. Two months ago Shelton beat him in a five-set quarter-final at the US Open, one of the biggest wins of the American’s career. In Paris, Alcaraz turned the tables and stretched his lead in their head-to-head meetings to 4-1.
He is only the second Spanish man to win the Paris title, following David Ferrer in 2012. The victory also moved him closer to a career Golden Masters: he has now won seven of the nine Masters 1000 events, with only Canada and Shanghai still missing from his collection.
Paris had been the one Masters event that kept slipping away from him. His best result there before this year was a quarter-final in 2022, and he arrived this week determined to change that record.
The road to the title
Alcaraz had to survive a scare to get to the final. In the quarter-finals he saved two match points against Taylor Fritz before winning 6-7(10-12), 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 43 minutes.
The semi-final was far more comfortable. He beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in 86 minutes without facing a single break point, winning 86 percent of his first-serve points.
Shelton took the longer route. He came from a set down to beat French hope Luca Van Assche 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 16 minutes, reaching the third Masters 1000 final of his career.
Alcaraz arrived in Paris on the back of the Vienna title a week earlier, and the win in the French capital stretched his winning run to nine matches. His five titles this season are the Australian Open, Doha, Tokyo, Vienna and now Paris.
Turin next for both finalists
Attention now turns to the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, which run from 15 to 22 November. Both finalists will be there, and Alcaraz will arrive as one of the favourites after the strongest finish to a season of his career.
For Shelton, the week still brought progress. A first Paris final and a third Masters 1000 final of his career underlined his rise, even if the trophy itself went to the man he beat in New York.
Follow all the build-up to the ATP Finals on Watan News.
