Carlos Alcaraz reached his first Paris Masters final with a clinical 6-4 6-4 win over Casper Ruud, winning 86% of first-serve points and striking 20 winners in 86 minutes. The 23-year-old Spaniard, now on an 8-match winning streak, will face Ben Shelton in a rematch of their epic US Open quarter-final.
Alcaraz, who missed four months with a wrist injury, has matched only Shelton and Jannik Sinner with six tour-level finals in 2026. He has lost just once since that late-night loss to Shelton in New York, and last week captured the Vienna title to continue his resurgence.
Shelton, 24, became the first American finalist in Paris since 2017 by rallying past Luca van Assche 5-7 6-3 6-4. The world No.4 has a career-best 45 wins this season and recently added Alcaraz's former coach Juan Carlos Ferrero to his team.
Their previous meeting ended at 03:34 local time after five sets, with Shelton claiming his first top-three victory. Alcaraz leads their head-to-head 3-1 but calls the upcoming final "one of the most difficult challenges in tennis."
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing