Carlos Alcaraz has claimed yet another ATP title after battling past Ben Shelton in the final of the Paris Masters.
Alcaraz beat Shelton 7-6(7-5), 7-5 in an entertaining encounter in the French capital, where the Spaniard claimed his fifth title of 2026 and the 29th of his stunning career so far. He defeated his American rival after almost two hours on court.
The Paris Masters represented his fourth ATP tournament since his return from a four-month injury layoff at the US Open. Alcaraz also lifted the trophies in Tokyo and Vienna, but believes this past week has been a standout.
| Year | Titles | Tournaments |
| 2026 | 5 | ATP Masters 1000 Paris (Indoor/Hard) Vienna (Indoor/Hard) Tokyo (Outdoor/Hard) Doha (Outdoor/Hard) Australian Open (Outdoor/Hard) |
| 2025 | 8 | Tokyo (Outdoor/Hard) US Open (Outdoor/Hard) ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (Outdoor/Hard) London / Queen’s Club (Outdoor/Grass) Roland Garros (Outdoor/Clay) ATP Masters 1000 Rome (Outdoor/Clay) ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (Outdoor/Clay) Rotterdam (Indoor/Hard) |
| 2024 | 4 | Beijing (Outdoor/Hard) Wimbledon (Outdoor/Grass) Roland Garros (Outdoor/Clay) ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (Outdoor/Hard) |
| 2023 | 6 | Wimbledon (Outdoor/Grass) London / Queen’s Club (Outdoor/Grass) ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Outdoor/Clay) Barcelona (Outdoor/Clay) ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (Outdoor/Hard) Buenos Aires (Outdoor/Clay) |
| 2022 | 5 | US Open (Outdoor/Hard) ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Outdoor/Clay) Barcelona (Outdoor/Clay) ATP Masters 1000 Miami (Outdoor/Hard) Rio de Janeiro (Outdoor/Clay) |
| 2021 | 1 | Umag (Outdoor/Clay) |
Carlos Alcaraz claims to have taken ‘one step forward’ after Paris title
Alcaraz spoke to the media in Paris after his triumph, where he was asked if he considers the past week his best in terms of level and competitiveness since his return in New York.
He replied: “Well, probably. Probably my best week. Yeah, in terms of tennis, I can match it with Vienna that I feel really comfortable in terms of tennis. But I would say this one, this week, I make one step forward mentally.
“I had a lot of really tough moments. I’m not saying match point down, but during the matches, I faced important and really tough moments internally, fighting with myself, trying to be positive, trying to stay strong mentally, and not letting those negative thoughts put into the game.
“And I’m just really happy that I just control my emotions, control my thoughts every moment, every single match. So for me, I made one step forward to that, but probably these two last weeks have been the best that I ever played since my comeback.”
Alcaraz will continue his busy period at the ATP Finals, which he also discussed in Paris. When asked if he thinks he is favourite to secure the title, he responded: “Well, I mean, let’s see. The matches were really close for me in this tournament. All I can say is I’m feeling really comfortable.
“I’m improving on this surface and in the courts. So let’s see. I’m going to go to Turin, going to try to do the same things that I have been doing, always going forward, trying to still improve, to still evolve my game. Let’s see.
“If I’m the favorite or not or I feel the favorite or not, to be honest, it is not in my hand or I don’t really want to take that in my hand and not think about it. Just going there, play my tennis, trying to enjoy, and try to play good tennis. So I’m going to leave it to the people if they see me as a favourite or not.”
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Brad Gilbert notices big change in Carlos Alcaraz since the US Open
The tennis world has been reacting to Alcaraz’s continued success, including WTA legend Tracy Austin and coach Brad Gilbert. Austin said on Tennis Channel: “Well it’s been wonderful to see Carlos. It doesn’t matter whether he’s playing a backboard or a grinder or he’s playing someone who’s so ultra-aggressive like Ben Shelton. He’s able to figure it out with his great defence and offence.
“That quarterfinal match, Taylor Fritz had two match points. He won either one of those, and he goes to Turin. And Carlos, I mean, it looked like he was behind in both of those points, and he somehow finds a way to win them. So Taylor Fritz just out of Turin. And for Carlos, it’s just exciting to see him kind of back on track as fans. We’re so excited that he’s back in a big way.”
And Gilbert, who previously coached Coco Gauff, said of the Spaniard: “Well, Carlos won three of four tournaments after the US Open. And probably the biggest change you noticed from the Open, he barely was breaking 120 on his serve. And a lot of times it was in the low hundreds.
“Today he was hitting high 130s. So that wrist is obviously feeling way better. He’s abbreviated the motion, but I noticed the serve pace and kind of the JCF (Juan Carlos Ferrero) effect today. Where will that take Ben in ’27? But I thought Carlos, much improved play in indoors the last two weeks.”
It certainly will be intriguing to see how the American will improve going forward, with Shelton having hired Carlos Ferrero as his coach alongside his father, Bryan Shelton. Both players now turn their focus to the ATP Finals in Turin, where they could be reunited on the court once again.
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