Shelton and Paul clash in all-American Paris Masters quarterfinal

Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul both advanced to the quarterfinals of the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday, setting up an all-American showdown at the indoor hard-court ATP Masters 1000 event. Shelton, seeded third, defeated French home favourite Arthur Rinderknech 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in a dramatic two-hour, three-minute match on Court Centrale. The victory marked Shelton's 43rd win of the season, a new personal best surpassing his previous record of 42 wins in 2024. Paul, seeded 12th, advanced by defeating fellow Frenchman Quentin Halys 7-6(3), 6-4 in straight sets.

Shelton and Paul, who are friends and Davis Cup teammates, will meet for the first time since 2024, when Paul defeated Shelton 6-2, 6-4 in the Dallas semifinals. It will be their fifth career meeting, with the players level at two wins each. Both are seeking their first Paris Masters semifinal appearance. The match will take place Friday at Plenitude Arena. Shelton, 24, has already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. Paul, 29, remains four spots outside the qualification cut and trails ninth place by 309 points in the ATP Live Race, making this quarterfinal consequential for his bid to reach the year-end championship.

The Shelton-Rinderknech match featured high-quality all-court play, with the pair combining for 32 aces and zero double faults. The dramatic finish saw Rinderknech dive and miss a drop volley before Shelton won the match with an open-court volley after a tiebreak that went 7-6(5). Shelton won five of the final six points from being down 2-4 in the tiebreak. The American lefty is the first player to reach back-to-back Paris quarterfinals since Jack Sock reached the semis in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Elsewhere Thursday, 11th-seeded Taylor Fritz defeated sixth-seeded Arthur Fils 6-3, 6-4, winning 77 percent of first-serve points and 92 percent of second-serve points with 14 aces and no double faults or break points faced. Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz advanced when Matteo Berrettini withdrew due to an arm injury. In the bottom half, qualifier Rinky Hijikata, who upset Novak Djokovic in the second round, defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to reach his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal. The Australian is the first qualifier to reach the Paris quarterfinals since Hugo Gaston in 2021. Hijikata will face 22-year-old Frenchman Luca Van Assche, who beat former Top-10 player Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 for his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal appearance.