Carlos Alcaraz won the Paris ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time on Sunday, defeating Ben Shelton 7-6 (7/5), 7-5. The 23-year-old Spaniard claimed his ninth Masters 1000 title and gained revenge for his US Open quarter-final loss to Shelton earlier this season.
The final lasted just under two hours, a contrast to their five-set epic in New York. Alcaraz, now world number three, has won five tour-level titles in 2026, second only to Jannik Sinner's six. He arrived in Paris after winning the Vienna 500 event and extended his winning streak to nine matches.
Alcaraz saved match points against Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals, echoing his Roland Garros final comeback against Sinner last year. He remains undefeated in title matches in Paris, having also won two French Opens.
For Shelton, the world number four, it was a first defeat in a Masters final after winning the previous two Canadian Open titles. The American served for the first set but Alcaraz forced a tie-break and took it. In the second set, Alcaraz broke back and eventually sealed the championship with a flicked backhand winner.
Alcaraz will next target a first ATP Finals title in Turin from November 15-22. He said after the match: "Coming here every year, not finding my best tennis but we never gave up. We had really painful losses here and we always said try again."
