Alcaraz to meet Shelton in Paris Masters final

Carlos Alcaraz has qualified for the Paris Masters final, where he will meet Ben Shelton in a rematch of their US Open encounter. The Spaniard advanced by beating Casper Ruud in straight sets. Shelton secured his place in the final by overcoming Luca Van Assche 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Alcaraz had to wait for his opening against Ruud. After holding serve in two of the Spaniard’s first three service games, the Norwegian was broken: Alcaraz moved 4-3 ahead, then closed out the first set with a 130mph ace. The second stayed level until Alcaraz broke Ruud to lead 5-4. He went on to seal the match in 97 minutes.

The win followed a demanding contest against Taylor Fritz. Alcaraz saved two match points on Friday before prevailing. At the net, Fritz told him he had been “just too good”, Alcaraz reported after the match. The run in Paris also marks a milestone: Marca says this is the first final of Alcaraz’s career at the tournament, where he had not previously gone beyond the quarter-finals.

Alcaraz made no secret of his relief. “This tournament has always been really tough for me. I’ve struggled every time,” he said on court. He also said he had arrived at this stage of the season “fresher, hungry, ambitious” and was happy to have reached the final.

The meeting with Shelton revisits their previous US Open encounter, when the American beat Alcaraz in the quarter-finals in a five-set match. Alcaraz called that contest “really tough”, decided by “details”, and said he would try to do some things differently at important moments. Shelton also had to come from behind against Van Assche to qualify. The Paris Masters is live on Sky Sports until Sunday; the ATP Finals in Turin will then run from November 15 to 22.