Jannik Sinner au Rolex Paris Masters 2025
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Jannik Sinner insisted he’s “not thinking” about ending the season as world number one despite overcoming back problems to beat Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters.Sinner arrived in Paris 804 points behind Carlos Alcaraz, having fallen to second after losing the US Open final, but after the Spaniard was knocked out in Paris in the last 32, Sinner has the chance to enter the Nitto ATP Finals back in control if he can take victory in Paris.
Sinner did not have it all his own way against Shelton and was hobbling around the court holding his back early on against the American, but recovered to triumph 6-3 6-3 as his opponent’s error-filled performance cost him.
On Saturday, the Italian will face the winner of the quarter-final between Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, while Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexander Bublik will contest the opposite semi-final.
If Sinner can win the tournament, he will enter the ATP Finals in Turin as the world No. 1.
“Honestly, at the moment I’m not thinking about the ranking, it’s all a consequence of how I’m playing,” Sinner told Sky Sports.
“We go day by day, every day you have very difficult challenges coming up, today was a very tough one, so I’m very happy to come through and whatever comes out comes out.
“At the end of the year, making the semis here in Paris means a lot. It’s been a very long season with some great results and I never take these results for granted.
“I’m happy to be in the situation I am and tomorrow is an important day, but I’m looking forward to it.”
World No. 1 ranking now is ‘impossible’ but the ‘goal for next year’ – Sinner
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Sinner proud of response to Shelton’s aggression
Sinner swept a frustrated Shelton aside in only 69 minutes as the world No. 7 faded following an aggressive start and could not find the accuracy to complement his booming serve.
After Sinner overcame an injury scare last time out against Francisco Cerundolo, he initially struggled with back pain against Shelton as the American appeared to have the upper hand and came close to taking a 2-1 lead.
By his second service game, coach Darren Cahill was encouraging Sinner to come to the net “whenever you can,” which Sinner struggled with, but broke Shelton in the following game and held his own serve via a stylish mid-air running cross-court forehand to take a 4-2 lead in the set.
Having seemingly shaken off the niggle, Sinner took control of the set and broke Shelton once again to seal the set 6-3. And when the Italian went 3-1 up in the second set, just 50 minutes after the match began, Shelton looked in danger of falling apart.
However, he hit back immediately, breaking Sinner with a sensational forehand – causing the Italian to enter a fiery exchange with his coaches’ box – before Shelton completed the comeback to 3-3 with an ace.
Yet, having done all that good work, Shelton’s fifth double fault of the match helped Sinner immediately restore his two-game lead and the Italian did not give him a second opportunity.
“[I’m] very happy, it was a very, very tough match,” Sinner added.
“At times I don’t have a lot of control because of his incredible serving but today I felt I was returning very well.
“From the back of the court, I played very solid, very aggressive, so very happy about today’s match and now let’s see what’s coming.
“Tomorrow’s going to be, in any case, a very physical match, so let’s see how I’m going to feel, but it was a great day.”
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