Ben Shelton fires back at Paris Masters court critics after win

Ben Shelton disagrees with what has been said about the Paris Masters courts after beating Arthur Rinderknech.

The American fought back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in the third round at the Accor Arena on Thursday afternoon.

Rinderknech, a French wild card, had the home crowd behind him and was on course for another upset at the Masters 1000 event.

Shelton saved a break point early in the second set and turned the match around.

In the deciding set tiebreak, he trailed 4-2 before winning five of the next six points to close it out 7-5.

After the match, an ATP spokesperson asked Shelton about the court speed during his on-court interview.

"Since they started measuring court speed on tour, this is the quickest court there's been," the official said.

"How is that transferring to the game and to your game?"

Shelton disagreed immediately.

"I don't agree. I think Basel last week was faster," Shelton stated.

"I think Cincinnati was also faster, but that's just me."

The exchange came as a surprise because the Paris Masters has long been known for its fast indoor hard courts.

But Shelton pushed back on the idea that Paris is the fastest stop on the ATP calendar.

Data from Tennis Abstract supports his skepticism, at least for last year.

The 2025 Paris Masters had a surface speed rating of 0.94.

That rating falls in the bottom half of court speed measurements across all ATP Tour events.

However, Tennis Abstract has not yet published its court speed data for the 2026 Paris Masters.

So the current tournament may still prove to be faster than last year's edition.

Shelton acknowledged that the surface takes adjustment.

"But yeah, it's something to get used to," Shelton continued.

"I normally like a slower, high-bouncing, hard court."

"My game is also very effective on the surface if I can feel more and more comfortable, which I do each year."

"And just trying to get one per cent better each day."

Shelton said his game has evolved to handle fast conditions better than before.

"I feel that my game has cleaned up so much that I'm able to extend points on the surface, handle pace a little bit better, return better," he said.

"And I think that makes all the difference."

The win sets up an all-American quarterfinal against Tommy Paul.

The two know each other well from the ATP circuit and have trained together.

Much is at stake for both players.

At the start of this week, Paul had a slim chance of reaching the ATP Finals if he went deep in Paris.

Shelton, meanwhile, is playing the best tennis of his career.

He recently reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4.

He has won four ATP titles this season.

His biggest Grand Slam result came at the US Open, where he reached his first major final before losing to Alexander Zverev.

Shelton also made headlines this week for hiring Juan Carlos Ferrero as his coach for the 2027 season.

Ferrero, a former world No. 1 and 2003 Roland Garros champion, previously coached Carlos Alcaraz to six Grand Slam titles.

Their partnership ended in December 2025.

Shelton admitted he thought Ferrero would choose another player.

"Honestly, I saw the stuff online, I thought it was true, too, I thought he was going with one of these young Spanish guys," Shelton told Tennis Channel.

"But I just reached out to my agent one day and I was like, 'Hey, could you just at least, you know, hit the guy up and see if he's available or if he already locked something in'."

"He ended up being available and we had some talks on the phone and that was kind of that."

Ferrero will work alongside Shelton's father, Bryan Shelton, who has coached his son since he turned professional.