SportsTennis
Shelton beats Paul to reach Paris Masters semi-final and end Turin hopes of Paul
The third seed won 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in an all-American quarter-final on Friday, and his compatriot Tommy Paul's exit settles the last ATP Finals place.
Key points
- Ben Shelton beat Tommy Paul 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the Paris Masters quarter-final.
- He served 11 aces and won 10 of 11 points at the net.
- Paul's exit means Frances Tiafoe qualifies for the ATP Finals in Turin.
Third seed Ben Shelton beat fellow American Tommy Paul 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the Rolex Paris Masters quarter-finals on Friday to reach his first semi-final in the French capital.
Shelton served 11 aces, dropped his serve only once and won 10 of 11 points at the net. Paul, the 12th seed, took the second set to level the match, but Shelton broke through again in the decider.
It is his third Masters 1000 semi-final. He won the previous two, in Toronto in 2025 and Montreal in 2026. He now leads Paul 3-2 in their meetings.
The result had a second consequence in the race for Turin. Paul needed to reach the Paris final to overtake Rafael Jodar for the last place at the ATP Finals, so his defeat ends that hope. The ATP said Frances Tiafoe qualifies for the tournament.
What comes next
Shelton will play either Luca Van Assche or Rinky Hijikata in the semi-final. The French player and the Australian qualifier meet in the other last-eight tie.