For years the Paris indoor event was the tournament Carlos Alcaraz could not crack, with the quarter-finals his ceiling. On Sunday he finally plays for the trophy, and the man across the net is Ben Shelton, who beat him over five sets at the US Open this summer.
Alcaraz needed only 86 minutes to see off Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in Saturday’s semi-final. He never faced a break point and dropped only nine points behind his own serve, a calm performance one day after he had to save two match points against Taylor Fritz. Counting his title run in Vienna last week, the Spaniard has won eight matches in a row.
The 23-year-old openly spoke of wanting “revenge” and said he would approach the decisive moments in a different way this time. He leads their rivalry 3-1 overall. Sunday will be his eleventh final at Masters 1000 level and his first in Paris, the seventh different event of that tier where he has reached the title match.
Shelton had a far rougher afternoon. Facing Frenchman Luca Van Assche, ranked 47th, the American left-hander dropped the opening set and was a break down at 1-3 in the third. Swapping raw power for longer rallies turned it around, and after two hours and 16 minutes he was through 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
It is the 24-year-old’s sixth final of the season, matching Jannik Sinner for the most on tour, and no US player had made the Paris final since Jack Sock won it in 2017. Having lifted Masters trophies in Toronto and Montreal, he now wants one from Paris to go with them.
