Carlos Alcaraz beats Shelton in straight sets to win Paris Masters and claim 5th title of the year By Carolina Costa
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Carlos Alcaraz beat Ben Shelton 7-6 (5), 7-5 on Sunday, November 8, 2026, to win the Paris Masters in Nanterre, outside Paris, France. It was his first title at the tournament and his fifth of the season.
The final put the No. 3 and No. 4 players in the world against each other, with Alcaraz third and Shelton fourth in the ATP ranking. Shelton was aiming for his third Masters title, after winning Canada in 2025 and 2026.
How the tie-break and a late break decided the two sets
Neither player lost serve during the first 12 games, so the opening set went to a tie-break at 6-6. Shelton saved a set point in the breaker, but Alcaraz took it 7-5 with angled serves and aggressive rallies from the baseline.
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Shelton broke serve for the first time in the match during the second set and led 4-2. Alcaraz broke straight back to 4-4, held his serve and broke again in the 12th game to close the set 7-5. The match lasted just under two hours.
Paris win reverses September US Open defeat to Shelton
Shelton had beaten Alcaraz in their previous meeting, a US Open quarterfinal in September that ended at 3:33 a.m. and lasted 4 hours and 28 minutes. Alcaraz’s win in Paris gives him a 4-1 record against Shelton in their head-to-head.
Alcaraz returned from a right wrist injury in late August and built a run of titles on several surfaces and continents. His five trophies this year came on the following courts:
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- Australian Open, on the hard courts of Melbourne
- Doha tournament, on the fast courts of Qatar
- Tokyo tournament, during the Asian hard-court season
- Vienna tournament, on the European indoor circuit
- Paris Masters, on the fast indoor court in France
Alcaraz now heads to the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, which run from November 15 to 22, 2026. Before the Paris final he was third in the Race to Turin, the ATP points ranking for the season-ending event, with 5,750 points, and the title added another 350. Shelton will join Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz’s former coach, next season.
