Carlos Alcaraz says he is ready to take on “one of the toughest challenges in tennis” after setting up a rematch against Ben Shelton in the Paris Masters final.
After escaping two match points to make a successful comeback in his quarter-final against Taylor Fritz on Friday, Alcaraz secured his first appearance in the Parisian showpiece with an efficient 6-4 6-4 victory over Casper Ruud.
The 23-year-old Spaniard’s US Open title defense was ended by Shelton in an epic five-set quarterfinal that ended at 3:34 a.m. local time in their previous meeting in September.
The tournament was seven-time major winner Alcaraz’s first after a four-month absence due to a wrist injury – and he has since returned to his best.
“I’m ready to face Ben Shelton in the final. It’s probably one of the toughest challenges you can face in tennis right now,” said world number three Alcaraz.
“Ben is playing very good tennis. Last time it was a hell of a match. But I’m going to enjoy this moment because I’ve been chasing the final for a long time here. It will be a great day for me.”
Despite missing a significant portion of the season, only Shelton and Jannik Sinner have matched Alcaraz’s final six appearances in 2026.
He has lost just one of the 16 matches he has played since losing to Shelton in New York, and heads into their revenge on an eight-match winning streak after continuing his remarkable comeback from injury by triumphing in Vienna last week.
It was a victory over Ruud, in the final of the 2022 US Open, which allowed Alcaraz to celebrate his first major and his first world number one ranking.
Continuing his efforts to re-establish himself at the top of men’s football after a long injury, Alcaraz proved he is on top in his latest encounter with the Norwegian in the French capital on Saturday.
Alcaraz demonstrated his superiority on all courts as he finished the match winning 86% of the points on his first serve, producing 20 winners – including 13 on the forehand – and winning 11 of 13 points at the net in a clinical display.
A single break was enough to settle both sets – he sealed each with an ace for good measure – and deprive Ruud of any opportunity to respond in the 86-minute victory.
Alcaraz, who had never progressed past the quarter-finals in Paris, has now reached the final of seven of the nine prestigious ATP Masters 1000 events.
World number four Shelton waits after the US Open finalist claimed a three-set victory over Frenchman Luca van Assche.
Shelton, full of confidence coming off a 2026 season that gave him a career-best 45 victories, won 5-7 6-3 6-4 to become the first American men’s singles finalist at the event since 2017.
“Obviously, Carlos is in incredible shape. He’s already a young legend of our sport and every match he plays in is a blockbuster,” said Shelton, 24.
Shelton may have won his last meeting, but Alcaraz won each of his first three and the American often struggled against the world’s best players.
But the US Open victory over Alcaraz gave Shelton, who recently named former Alcaraz coach Juan Carlos Ferrero to his team, his first career victory against a top-three opponent – and undoubtedly affirmed his belief that he can establish himself at the top of the sport.
Gn sports
