Carlos Alcaraz downs Ben Shelton to win Paris Masters for first time

PARIS (Agencies): Carlos Alcaraz gained a measure of revenge on Ben Shelton on Sunday as the seven-time Grand Slam champion beat the American 7-6(7/5), 7-5 to win the Paris Masters for the first time. In defeating the man who ended his US Open title defence earlier this season, the 23-year-old claimed the ninth 1000-level title of his career. Unlike their five-set quarter-final epic in New York two months ago, the clash in Paris lasted just under two hours.  “For me it’s really special that finally I just got to play great tennis,” Alcaraz told reporters. “I went far in the tournament, lifting the trophy at the end.  “I would say this week I took a step forward mentally. I had a lot of really tough moments. I’m just really happy that I controlled my emotions, controlled my thoughts every moment, every single match,” he added in reference to his quarter-final win against Taylor Fritz, in which he saved two match points. Coming into Paris on the back of winning the 500-level title in Vienna, Alcaraz has won his last nine matches.

“Probably these two last weeks have been the best I’ve played since my comeback,” Alcaraz added of his return from a wrist injury that caused him to miss the French Open and Wimbledon. Ahead of the ATP Finals, which run November 15-22 in Turin, world number three Alcaraz now holds five tour-level titles this year — only the injured Jannik Sinner has more with six. In Italy, he will next be seeking a first coronation at the season-ending Finals. For world number four Shelton, it was a first defeat in a Masters final after winning his two previous appearances in showpiece matches at that level — both coming in the last two editions of the Canadian Open.

 ‘Little details’:

An entertaining first set, which drew a multitude of admiring gasps from the crowd, went the distance despite both players enjoying some success on the other’s serve. In the tie-break, a Shelton error at 4-4 followed by a leaping backhand smash by Alcaraz brought up two set points. The first came and went when Alcaraz thundered the ball into the top of the net cord, and the expectant arena froze in time as it rose and fell in seeming slow motion, only to land on the Spaniard’s side of the court. Alcaraz was not to be denied a second time, however, as Shelton overcooked a forehand on the next point to cede 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 said 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 were just that three games later as he levelled the set at four-all. A deft exchange of angled drop shots ended by an Alcaraz winner down the line brought the Spaniard’s finger to his ear and the crowd again to their feet as Shelton suddenly found himself serving to keep the final alive. He did so at the first time of asking, but when required to serve again to force a break, Shelton cracked as Alcaraz again pounced to seal the title with a flicked backhand winner.

“It’s all about the little details. The difference in our match, in the US Open, was the little details, and same here,” 24-year-old Shelton said. “I’ve learned so much, and it’s the position that I want to be in.  “Playing in the US Open final against [Alexander] Zverev, playing the finals here against Carlos, now going to Turin and get to line up against the eight best players in the world.” After winning two French Opens and now the Paris Masters, former world number one Alcaraz is undefeated in title matches in the city, excluding the Olympic Games, which do not carry ranking points. In the earlier doubles final, French pair Quentin Halys and Pierre-Hugues Herbert upset second seeds Neal Skupski and Christian Harrison as the wildcards triumphed 7-6(7/3), 6-7(4/7), 10-8.