Ben Shelton will face Carlos Alcaraz in the Rolex Paris Masters final on 8 November. The pairing was confirmed after Alcaraz defeated Casper Ruud 6–4, 6–4 in the second semifinal on Saturday.
Shelton had already secured his place with a 5–7, 6–3, 6–4 comeback victory over Luca Van Assche. His own semifinal therefore remains the foundation of this story; the new development is the identity of his final opponent.
A comeback in the deciding set
After recovering from losing the first set, Shelton trailed 1–3 in the third. He then won four consecutive games to move ahead 5–3 and went on to complete the match, ending Van Assche’s run in front of the Paris crowd.
That sequence made the difference between another early advantage for Van Assche and a place in the title match for Shelton. Recovering once had not been enough; the American had to regain control again in the final set.
The opponent is now known
Alcaraz reached his first Paris Masters final with a straight-sets win over Ruud in 86 minutes. Shelton’s opponent is consequently no longer a choice between the two players, and the earlier version of this article has been updated to reflect that result.
Sunday’s match will decide the title. Neither semifinal victory should be described as winning the tournament, and no final score is available at the time of this update. The confirmed schedule places Alcaraz and Shelton on opposite sides of the net on 8 November.
