Ben Shelton Spotted on Paris Masters Court As He Fights for a Place Alongside Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz in Turin
Ben Shelton was spotted practicing on the indoor hardcourts of the Paris Masters earlier on Sunday, October 26. The American is seeded sixth at the ninth and final ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year and has received a first-round Bye.
Up until the 2025 US Open last month, Shelton had gotten his push for his first-ever ATP Finals appearance to a great start by making his top 10 debut and winning his maiden Masters-level title in Toronto. However, the 23-year-old picked up an unfortunate shoulder injury in the fourth set of his third-round match against France’s Adrian Mannarino in New York, which ultimately forced his retirement from his home Major tournament.
Ben Shelton Will Be Eager to Getting Back to Winning Ways at This Week’s Paris Masters
Shelton subsequently spent more than a month on the sidelines before coming back at the Shanghai Masters in early October. The World No. 6 was visibly rusty due to his inactivity, though, losing 2-6, 4-6 to David Goffin in his tournament opener. Having since suffered another early exit at last week’s Swiss Indoors Basel, he is now looking for some well-deserved redemption in Paris-Bercy this week.
On Sunday, the three-time ATP singles titlist was seen polishing his groundstrokes in the La Défense Arena — the new venue for the Paris Masters. Considering how he exited in the first round and the second round of the tournament in 2023 and 2024, respectively, the American will benefit from getting used to the medium-slow indoor hardcourts employed in Paris-Bercy.
If he manages to put together a good showing this week, the 23-year-old will most likely join the elite eight at the ATP Finals in Turin. So far, only Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, and Alexander Zverev have qualified for the year-end championships, which will be held in November.
The remaining four spots will be up for grabs between Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Lorenzo Musetti, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Casper Ruud, and Daniil Medvedev, among others.
Shelton Looking to Bounce Back From Basel 2R Upset
Shelton showed promising signs during his first-round match at the Swiss Indoors last week as he saved two match points to fight past Kamil Majchrzak 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(7). However, the American youngster couldn’t sustain his momentum in his next on-court outing, losing 3-6, 4-6 to Spain’s Jaume Munar.
With the above defeat, Shelton succumbed to a 1-3 negative head-to-head record against the World No. 42, who had also defeated him at the Rome Masters and the Dallas Open earlier this year. Nonetheless, the World No. 6 can take pride in his 2025 season, with a 38-20 win/loss record to boot and a prospective ATP Finals berth awaiting him.
