Shelton wins final-set tie-break thriller against Rinderknech to set up Paul quarter-final

Third seed Ben Shelton of the United States came from a set down to beat Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in a final-set tie-break thriller on Court Central on Thursday.

He reached the quarter-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters.

He will face fellow American Tommy Paul, who beat Quentin Halys 7-6 (3), 6-4 earlier in the day.

Shelton took his revenge on Rinderknech.

Rinderknech had beaten him 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) at Queen’s in 2025 in their only previous meeting.

That win was the Frenchman’s first victory over a top-10 player.

The match lasted 2 hours and 5 minutes.

An hour of it was in the deciding set, in which neither player dropped serve.

Rinderknech saved two break points, at 2-2 and 3-3.

In the tie-break, the Frenchman went up a mini-break to lead 4-2.

Shelton won the next point on Rinderknech’s serve, then the next two on his own.

At 5-5, he won a point on Rinderknech’s serve to earn match point.

He converted it on his own serve.

Rinderknech had taken the first set in 27 minutes, dropping only three points on his serve and winning all eight of his points at the net.

He broke Shelton for a 4-2 lead.

Shelton levelled by breaking Rinderknech in the last game of the second set.

The American is the first player from his country to reach back-to-back quarter-finals in Paris since Jack Sock (2016-18), according to the ATP.

It is his eighth ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final and his second of the season, after he won Montreal without dropping a set.

It is also his 43rd win of 2026, a personal best for a season.

His previous best was 42 wins in 2024.

In the Race to Turin, where he is already qualified, the win takes Shelton to 4,720 points.

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

“I was happy with the resilience.”

“I thought I played clean. I returned well. I played as aggressive as I needed to, but I didn’t over play,” he added speaking to the press.

He said that on a fast indoor court, “you gotta be able to balance playing with speed sometimes, taking your foot off the gas and handling the pace that’s coming at you.”

The explosive pair combined for 32 aces and zero double faults.

They also produced several dazzling net exchanges and only two service breaks in the match.

Deadlocked at 5-All in the tiebreaker, Rinderknech put himself in position to earn match point only to come up too long.

Wisely serving wide to Shelton’s backhand on a serve-and-volley, the Frenchman created an expanse of wide open court.

But he pushed a routine backhand volley long, handing the American match point.

In the wild all-court exchange that followed, Shelton curled a crosscourt forehand, then dabbed a backspinning drop volley.

In a desperate dash forward, Rinderknech caught up to the ball and crashed face first to the court while lifting his reply.

Shelton then blocked the open-court volley to end an adventurous two hour, three-minute triumph.

Shelton and Paul will now contest their first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash since 2024 on Friday at Plenitude Arena.