Exactly two months after his hard-fought defeat to Ben Shelton in the US Open quarterfinals, Carlos Alcaraz will have a shot at revenge on Sunday in Paris, where he takes on the American in the Masters 1000 final. And the Spaniard admits he “really wants it”.
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz celebrates winning his semi final match against Norway’s Casper Ruud. (REUTERS)
The US Open in September was Alcaraz’s first tournament in nearly five months, having been sidelined with a right wrist injury suffered at the Barcelona Open in April. He had headed into the year’s final Grand Slam without any match practice, merely testing himself on his way back. Yet, he made it to the second week, registering a dominant win over Tommy Paul along the way.
But Shelton stopped him in his tracks in a five-set epic, a match that set the record for the latest finish (3:33 am) in the history of the hard-court major. His massive serving, dynamite returns and angled groundstrokes proved too much for Alcaraz as the eighth seed snapped the Spaniard’s 18-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments with the biggest triumph of his career.
On Sunday, however, Shelton will face a very different Alcaraz. The seven-time Grand Slam champion heads into the Paris showdown on the back of an eight-match winning streak, having arrived in the French capital after winning the ATP 500 title in Vienna. This is already his best performance at this Masters 1000 event, and he now has a chance to claim the biggest indoor title of his career ahead of his fourth ATP Finals appearance.
But perhaps what he has been waiting for most is the opportunity to avenge that defeat in New York on September 9.
“Tomorrow is going to be a big day,” Alcaraz said after defeating Casper Ruud in the semi-final. “I’m really happy and excited. I can’t wait and will try to prepare for the match the best that I can and give myself a chance. I really want to take revenge against Ben.”
Since their meeting at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the two have had contrasting fortunes on the Tour. Alcaraz reached three finals in four tournaments, winning titles in Japan and Vienna. In between, however, came a shock second-round exit at the Shanghai Masters. Shelton, meanwhile, exited in the second round in Shanghai before being knocked out in the pre-quarterfinals in Basel.
“Last time was a pretty tough match. I’m going to try to do different things at little moments, important moments, that I probably didn’t do well last time. I’m pretty sure it is going to be a great match to watch, for me to play and of course to learn,” Alcaraz added.
Shelton-Ferrero combo!
Another intriguing storyline is that Sunday’s final comes just a week after Shelton announced the addition of Juan Carlos Ferrero to his coaching team for the 2027 season. Ferrero previously coached Alcaraz, with the two parting ways last December after seven years and 24 tour-level titles together.
Sunday’s final will also be Alcaraz’s seventh Masters 1000 final at a different tournament.
For Shelton, who had to dig deep to overcome home favourite Luca Van Assche in three sets in the semi-final, this will be his first Masters 1000 final outside Canada. He won in Montreal earlier this year and in Toronto in 2025.
“For me every match is a special one,” Shelton said. “I love playing out here on Tour, and I love playing these big matches at the end of a tournament… It’s a great matchup against a high-calibre player and I think it could be really exciting.”
