NANTERRE, France — Carlos Alcaraz finished it with a two-handed backhand down the line on his second match point, threw his arms out wide and then walked around the net to wrap Ben Shelton in a hug. The 7-6(5), 7-5 win on Sunday gave the second seed the Rolex Paris Masters title for the first time, at an indoor event where, before this week, he had never reached the semifinals.
The final turned on the points Shelton could not take. In the fourth game the American led 0-40 on the Alcaraz serve, and Alcaraz saved all four break points to hold. He saved six in the set. At 3-3 it was Shelton’s turn to defend, and he got out of two break points with a pair of volleys on his own serve. Alcaraz was the steadier player in the tiebreak and sealed a 65-minute set on his second set point when Shelton missed a forehand.
Shelton broke for the first time in the second set and held for 4-2. Alcaraz answered straight away, finding forehand winners in the eighth game and breaking back for 4-4 when Shelton sent a forehand long from the back of the court. From there Alcaraz had the momentum, and he closed out the set 7-5 after one hour and 57 minutes.
Shelton served 12 aces to Alcaraz’s six. “He is always in a position to attack after that serve,” Alcaraz said. “It is really difficult to dominate that ball. It is not only coming fast, it is coming with a lot of power.”
What it means. The title is Alcaraz’s ninth at Masters 1000 level and makes him the third man since 1990 to win a Masters 1000 title in five consecutive seasons, after Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. He is the second Spanish champion in Paris, after David Ferrer in 2012. The win also moves him up the all-time list of Masters 1000 finals and titles.
“It is something I have been chasing for a long time. Some of the toughest defeats I ever had in my career I have had here,” Alcaraz said. “Finally I got my level here. I found the right path and the right way to do things.”
The run. It is his fifth title of 2026, the 29th of his career and his second in successive weeks after Vienna, where he did not drop a set. He won Tokyo last month. Alcaraz missed about four months with a right wrist injury and came back at the US Open in late August, where Shelton beat him in a five-set quarterfinal that ended at 3:33 a.m. Shelton went on to lose the final to Alexander Zverev. Sunday’s win takes Alcaraz to 4-1 against the American.
Paris was not straightforward. Alcaraz had to save two match points against Taylor Fritz in Friday’s quarterfinal, a result that completed the Turin field by sending Rafael Jodar to the season finale instead of Fritz. “I would say this week I made one step forward mentally,” Alcaraz said. “I’m happy I controlled my emotions every single match.”
Turin next. The Nitto ATP Finals start next Sunday, 15 November, at the Inalpi Arena. With Jannik Sinner out of the event with a knee injury, Alcaraz, the world No. 3, goes in as the highest-ranked player in the field after Zverev, who clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking in October. Shelton, the world No. 4, is next. The groups are drawn on Thursday, 12 November.
The field is Zverev, Alcaraz, Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli, Arthur Fils, Frances Tiafoe and Jodar. Alcaraz has never won the ATP Finals; he reached the title match last year. Sunday’s final was his 42nd win of the season.
Shelton. The third seed was playing his third Masters 1000 final, after winning the Canadian event in 2025 and again in Montreal this year, and this was his first defeat in one. Shelton said he was frustrated at the chances he let go, especially against Alcaraz. From next season he will work with Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz’s former coach.
