Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz defeated America’s Ben Shelton 7–6(5), 7–5 at the Paris Masters finals on Sunday, Nov. 8.
The title was Alcaraz’s first Masters 1000 trophy since coming back from injury and a rematch of the U.S. Open quarterfinals where the Spaniard narrowly lost a five-set thriller against Shelton.
“This is something that we have been chasing for a really long time,” the seven-time grand slam winner said after the match, noting that getting the right flow and playing his greatest tennis at this tournament had previously been elusive. But “we never give up.”
After winning a scramble on match point, second-seeded Alcaraz raised his arms and smiled as he won his first Paris Masters and ninth Masters 1000 title.
The scoreboard remained tight throughout. Alcaraz saved multiple break points in the fourth and eight games of the first set, while third-seeded Shelton did the same in the seventh game.
The two entered the tiebreak without any breaks of serve, and Alcaraz let out a yell when he secured the set after Shelton hit a forehand long at 5–6.
The lefty American broke in the fifth game of the second set when Alcaraz left a forehand wide, but Alcaraz broke back to level it at 4–4, then once more to seal the set and match a few games later.
“You know I just [had] really painful losses here,” Alcaraz said in the trophy ceremony. He had lost in the second or third round of the tournament the prior three years. “But you know we try next year we try and try, and then you know, finally we felt really comfortable coming here.”
The 23-year-old started the year by becoming the youngest to ever complete the career Grand Slam at the Australian Open, only to suffer a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open a couple of months later.
Alcaraz returned at the U.S. Open in August after being sidelined for four months. He lost to Shelton in what ended up being the latest ever U.S. Open finish at 3:33 a.m. after four and a half hours of back-and-forth shotmaking.
“Carlos is one of the greatest champions of our sport,” Shelton said after the match. “It was the most enjoyable match I’ve had in my career, for sure.”
It was the young American’s first career win over Alcaraz, who now favors the head-to-head 4–1 after Sunday’s victory.
Since New York, Alcaraz won two ATP 500 tournaments at the Vienna Open and Japan Open.
Both men will play at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, starting Nov. 15.
