Shelton beats Paul to reach Paris semi-finals and end his Turin hopes

Ben Shelton reached his first Paris Masters semi-final on Friday by defeating fellow American Tommy Paul 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. The tournament's official report recorded a match lasting one hour and 45 minutes, with the third seed recovering from losing the second set to advance.

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The opening set remained on serve through nine games, with neither player facing a break point. Paul then made two unforced errors in the tenth game before Shelton finished the set with a winning return. Paul responded immediately in the second set, breaking in the opening game and protecting that advantage to level the match.

Shelton regained control in the deciding set when a double fault and two unforced errors from Paul helped produce a break in the fourth game. He held his advantage and served out the victory. According to the tournament, Shelton is the first American Paris semi-finalist since Jack Sock in 2017. The two players had not faced each other since 2024 before this meeting in Paris.

Tennis Majors reported that the result also settled part of the race for the ATP Finals in Turin. Paul needed to reach the Paris final to remain in contention, so his defeat eliminated him. Frances Tiafoe secured qualification as a consequence, while Shelton had already booked his place at the season-ending event.

Shelton's serving figures underlined his advantage in the quarter-final. Tennis Majors recorded 11 aces and an 82 per cent first-serve rate, with the American losing serve only once. He converted two of four break opportunities, won 10 of 11 points at the net and finished with 35 winners against Paul's 21.

His next opponent is Luca Van Assche, who defeated Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5 later on Friday, Tennis Majors reported. Shelton now has three Masters 1000 semi-final appearances; his previous two, in Toronto in 2025 and Montreal in 2026, both ended in titles. Friday's victory also moved him ahead of Paul 3-2 in their head-to-head record.