Ben Shelton is through to the Rolex Paris Masters quarterfinals after outlasting Arthur Rinderknech 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in a match that lasted two hours and three minutes. Shelton had to survive a third-set tiebreak that came down to the final point before booking an all-American meeting with Tommy Paul.
The win gave Shelton a career-best 43rd victory of the season, moving him past his previous best of 42-26 from 2024. It also put him into his first quarterfinal since his run to his major maiden final at the US Open in September, and it made him the first American to reach back-to-back Paris quarterfinals since Jack Sock.
That is the form line that now makes Ben Shelton Vs Tommy Paul more than a familiar matchup. Shelton and Paul have split their four career meetings, and this one arrives with both men having already solved a test in Paris. Paul beat Quentin Halys 7-6, 6-4 to reach his 10th ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal, serving 70 percent and winning 43 of 45 first-serve points while dropping just one net-point attempt in 14 trips forward.
Shelton’s match with Rinderknech was tight from start to finish. The pair combined for 32 aces and zero double faults, and Shelton needed every bit of his power and reach to escape after Rinderknech came within reach of match point in the tiebreak. On the last rally, a desperate Rinderknech made a diving save on a drop volley before Shelton finished the point by bumping an open-court volley to seal the match.
The result also sharpens the next layer of the draw. Shelton and Paul last played in the 2024 Dallas semifinals, when Paul won 6-2, 6-4, and this quarterfinal will ask both to adjust quickly after two different kinds of wins. Shelton is chasing his fifth title of the year, while Paul arrives at 49-21 and has looked efficient enough in Paris to make the rematch feel immediate rather than nostalgic.
