Carlos Alcaraz secured a measure of revenge on Ben Shelton on Sunday as the seven-time Grand Slam champion defeated the American 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 to capture the Paris Masters title for the first time.
Road to Victory in Paris
In defeating the player who ended his US Open title defence earlier in the season, the 23-year-old Spaniard claimed the ninth 1000-level title of his career, as reported by sports.yahoo.com. Unlike their five-set quarter-final epic in New York two months ago, the clash in Paris lasted just under two hours. Ahead of the ATP Finals running from November 15-22 in Turin, world number three Alcaraz now holds five tour-level titles this year, with only the injured Jannik Sinner holding more with six. In Italy, Alcaraz will be seeking a first coronation at the season-ender. Following victories at two French Opens and now the Paris Masters, Alcaraz remains undefeated in title matches in the city.
However, not for the first time in the French capital, Alcaraz won the tournament by saving match points along the way, this time against Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals in scenes reminiscent of his iconic Roland Garros final win against Sinner last year. For world number four Shelton, the match marked his first defeat in a Masters final after winning his two previous appearances in showpiece matches at that level, which both came in the last two editions of the Canadian Open.
Straight-Sets Battle
Serving at 1-2 in the first set, Alcaraz faced danger by offering up four break points, but dug in to secure the hold when Shelton misfired at the end of a seven-minute game. Shelton then found himself two break points down in the seventh game but responded with a perfect drop volley and a blistering passing shot to reach deuce, before holding to stay ahead. Although both players threatened each other’s serve and drew gasps from the crowd with audacious shot-making, the opener required a tie-break.
A Shelton error at 4-4 followed by a leaping backhand smash by Alcaraz brought up two set points. The first chance slipped away when Alcaraz thundered the ball into the top of the net cord, leaving the arena frozen as the ball rose and fell in slow motion before landing on the Spaniard’s side of the court. Alcaraz was not denied a second time as Shelton overcooked a forehand on the next point to concede the opener.
At 2-2 in the second set, Shelton let out a bellow of frustration after missing a groundstroke at 15-30 on Alcaraz’s serve, but the American could smile at the end of the game as a double fault and missed forehand produced the first break of the match. Alcaraz had stated after booking his spot in the final that his reflexes would need to be “ten out of ten” when facing Shelton’s serve, and they proved to be just that three games later as he levelled the set at four-all.
A deft exchange of angled drop shots ending with an Alcaraz winner down the line brought the Spaniard’s finger to his ear and the crowd to their feet as Shelton suddenly found himself serving to keep the final alive. Shelton held serve at the first time of asking, but when required to serve again to force a tie-breaker, Shelton cracked as Alcaraz pounced to seal the title with a flicked backhand winner.
