Shelton Survives Thriller, Sets All-American Final vs Paul

Ben Shelton out-dueled Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in a dramatic Court Centrale clash at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The match lasted 2 hours and 5 minutes.

Shelton came from a set down to win.

He avenged his Queen’s defeat to Rinderknech from 2025.

The deciding set went to a tie-break.

Rinderknech led 4-2 in the tie-break.

Shelton won five of the final six points.

At 5-5, Rinderknech had a chance to earn match point.

He served wide to Shelton’s backhand and charged the net.

He pushed a routine backhand volley long.

That gave Shelton match point.

What followed was one of the wildest points of the indoor season.

Shelton curled a crosscourt forehand.

He then dabbed a backspinning drop volley.

Rinderknech sprinted forward and dove face-first onto the court.

He lifted his reply while crashing to the floor.

Shelton blocked the open-court volley to end the match.

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 (2016-2018).

It is his 11th quarterfinal of the year.

It is his first quarterfinal since his run to the US Open final in September.

Shelton is the third seed in Paris.

He is ranked world No. 4.

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

Earlier in the day, Tommy Paul defeated Frenchman 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 win put Paul into his 10th ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal.

Paul is 49-21 on the season.

He is third on the ATP Tour in wins behind Alexander Zverev (65) and Daniil Medvedev (52).

Paul is ranked 12th in Paris.

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

He trails ninth-placed Rafael Jodar by 309 points.

Paul needs to close that gap to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.

Both Taylor Fritz and Paul are still in the Paris draw.

Frances Tiafoe and Jodar have already exited.

Shelton and Paul are good friends and Davis Cup teammates.

They have not played each other since 2024.

Friday’s match will be their first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash in two years.

Both players are chasing their first Paris semifinal appearance.

Shelton spoke after the match.

“I thought it was pretty clinical other than the one game I dropped on serve in the second set I was disappointed with,” he told Tennis Channel.

“I was happy with the resilience.”