American stars Shelton and Paul set up all-U.S. quarterfinal in Paris.

Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul each defeated a French opponent on Thursday at the Rolex Paris Masters.

They will now face each other in an all-American quarterfinal.

The third-seeded Shelton edged Arthur Rinderknech 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) on Court Centrale.

It was a dramatic finish.

Rinderknech dove face-first trying to reach a drop volley on match point.

Shelton then tapped an open-court volley to seal the win.

The match lasted two hours and three minutes.

Shelton came from a set down.

He won five of the final six points in the deciding tie-break from 2/4 down.

The win gave Shelton his 43rd tour-level victory of the season.

That is a new personal best, surpassing his 42 wins in 2024.

He is the first American to reach back-to-back Paris quarterfinals since Jack Sock from 2016 to 2018.

It is Shelton's 11th quarterfinal of the year and his first since his run to the US Open final in September.

Shelton has already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

Earlier in the day, Tommy Paul defeated Quentin Halys 7-6(3), 6-4.

Paul served at 70 percent.

He won 43 of 45 first-serve points.

He prevailed in 13 of 14 trips to the net.

The 12th-seeded Paul improved to 49-21 on the season.

That puts him third on the ATP Tour in wins this season, behind world No. 1 Alexander Zverev (65) and former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev (52).

Paul knew that defeat would end his Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes.

He is currently 13th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

He now trails ninth-placed Rafael Jodar by just 309 points.

Both Paul and 11th-placed Taylor Fritz, who is also still competing in Paris, have a chance to catch Jodar and eighth-placed Frances Tiafoe, both of whom have exited the draw.

This will be the first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between Shelton and Paul since 2024.

Both players are chasing their first Paris semifinal appearance.

Shelton spoke about the matchup after his win.

"It's been a long time since we've been on the court, but I'm looking forward to it," Shelton said.

"He's in great form right now. A great player, a great friend."

"I've been rooting for him all year to make a push and make it to Turin. It will be fireworks tomorrow."

Shelton's match against Rinderknech was a rematch from Queen's in 2025.

Rinderknech had won that meeting 7-6(5), 7-6(4), his first win over a top-10 player.

Shelton avenged that loss on Thursday.

The match featured high-quality all-court tennis.