Sinner beats Shelton to reach Paris semi-finals
Jannik Sinner moves a step closer to regaining world number one status with victory over Ben Shelton at the Paris Masters, while there are also wins for Alexander Bublik and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Jannik Sinner moves a step closer to regaining world number one status with victory over Ben Shelton at the Paris Masters, while there are also wins for Alexander Bublik and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Jannik Sinner powered past Ben Shelton on Friday at the Rolex Paris Masters to reach the semi-finals of the French ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time and continue his push to return to World No. 1.
The second seed delivered a statement in his 400th tour-level match, ousting the American 6-3, 6-3 to extend his indoor winning streak to 24, dating back to November 2023. Should Sinner claim his fifth trophy this season — and first ATP Masters 1000 title of 2025 — he would return to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday.
“It was a very tough match. At times against Ben you don’t have a lot of control because of his incredible serving, but today I felt like I was returning very well,” said Sinner, who won 71 per cent of his second-serve return points, according to Infosys ATP Stats. “Also from the back of the court, I played very solid and also very aggressive, so I’m very happy about today’s match.”
[ATP AWARDS]Sinner did not commit a single unforced error off his reliable two-handed backhand and finished with just 10 on his forehand. The Italian was aggressive on second-serve returns and showcased lightning-fast reflexes against Shelton’s hefty delivery.
After earning triple set point at 5-3 in the opener, Sinner converted his second opportunity when he leapt aside to evade Shelton’s booming body serve before running down a backhand and drilling the ball into the open court to close out the 34-minute set.
Sinner wavered briefly at 3-1 in the second set when he was broken to love, with Shelton sealing the game with a banana-curling forehand pass. But Sinner quickly regrouped to race towards a 69-minute victory. Shelton’s bold second-serve gamble, a 190 km/h delivery, at 3-4 backfired with a double fault, allowing Sinner to serve for the match.
13th ATP Masters 1000 SF 🙌@janniksin takes out Shelton in straight sets to continue his 23-match winning streak on indoor hard courts🤯@RolexPMasters | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/YuEfcEYaQk
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 31, 2025
Up next for Sinner will be third seed Alexander Zverev or 11th seed Daniil Medvedev, who continues his late-season charge towards a once-unlikely Nitto ATP Finals berth. Sinner leads Medvedev 8-7 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and is tied with Zverev at 4-4, including a win last week against the German in the Vienna final.
With his victory Friday, Sinner became the first Italian man to reach 43 tour-level semi-finals, breaking his tie with Fabio Fognini and Adriano Panatta. Sinner is also the first Italian to reach the Rolex Paris Masters semi-finals. Sinner entered the week with just one win across his previous three appearances at the indoor event.
Since falling to Shelton in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting two years ago in Shanghai, Sinner has won seven consecutive matches against the 23-year-old. The Italian is 22-0 against Americans since that defeat and 14-0 against left-handers in that time.
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Felix Auger-Aliassime moved to within 145 points of Lorenzo Musetti in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin on Friday, when he ended the run of French wild card Valentin Vacherot to reach the semi-finals at the Rolex Paris Masters.
Vacherot had won his past 10 ATP Masters 1000 matches, highlighted by his fairytale victory in the Shanghai final earlier this month. However, he was unable to cope with Auger-Aliassime’s weight of shot and intensity in Paris, where the ninth seed earned a 6-2, 6-2 win to reach his fourth Masters 1000 semi-final.
“Every opponent is different. It was an interesting challenge coming onto court today and playing a player I knew from practice but had never played in a match. He is so confident and you are kind of scared to be honest,” Auger-Aliassime said. “You are not sure if he has got some magic right now that nobody else has but he is playing unbelievably. But I had to be so focused from the start and this level of intensity from the first game I brought helped ease me into the match and I played some good tennis.”
Auger-Aliassime rallied from a set down in his first three matches in the French capital but was in control from early on in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting against Vacherot. The 25-year-old, who broke Vacherot’s serve in the opening game, has reached 10 tour-level semi-finals this season, lifting trophies in Adelaide, Montpellier and Brussels.
Auger-Aliassime will next meet Alex de Minaur or Alexander Bublik. The eight-time tour-level titlist is 145 points behind Musetti in the Live Race To Turin and will leapfrog the Italian if he reaches the final. Auger-Aliassime is chasing his second appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, having qualified in 2022.
He struck 22 winners and committed 10 unforced errors in his win against Vacherot and is 47-21 on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
“I am trying to win every match I play,” Auger-Aliassime added. “Whether it is the end of the year or start of the year, everything counts and adds up in this sport. I think the work I put in, the routines. I try to be consistent with my work and try to bring consistency with everything I do and it is very gratifying when you get the consistency with your results.”
Vacherot stunned the tennis world when he won in Shanghai to become the lowest-ranked player in history to win a Masters 1000 title. The Monegasque star is up 10 spots to No. 30 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings after his quarter-final run in Paris.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Jannik Sinner advanced to the quarter-finals at the Rolex Paris Masters for the first time on Thursday, when he moved past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 to keep alive his hopes of returning to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
The Italian moved tentatively at times between points in the opening set and flexed out his right leg but never called for a medical timeout during the 86-minute clash. The second seed struck 12 winners to just two unforced errors in the opening set to lead and then won a 10-minute game at the start of the second set to break Cerundolo’s serve, striking a forehand winner on his second break point of the game. From that moment, Sinner raced to victory.
With his win, Sinner became the first Italian to reach the quarter-finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 events. The 24-year-old has triumphed at Masters 1000 events in Miami, Canada, Cincinnati and Shanghai.
Sinner, who leads Cerundolo 4-2 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, has won his past 23 matches indoors and has kept alive his hopes of capitalising on Carlos Alcaraz’s early Paris loss in the battle for World No. 1: The Italian can return to top spot next Monday if he can lift his first Masters 1000 title of the season.
Sinner will next meet Ben Shelton after the American defeated Andrey Rublev 7-6(6), 6-3. Shelton and Sinner will both compete at the Nitto ATP Finals next month.
Shelton defeated Sinner in Shanghai in 2023 but has lost the six following meetings, not winning a set in any of the encounters. The American will hope to change that record on Friday.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Alex de Minaur has qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the second consecutive season.
The 26-year-old guaranteed his spot at the season finale in Turin when he reached the Rolex Paris Masters quarter-finals on Thursday.
Before De Minaur qualified last year, the most recent Australian who played in the tournament was Lleyton Hewitt in 2004. Now De Minaur is returning to compete at Inalpi Arena for the second time.
The seventh Turin qualifier won the third ATP 500 of his career this year in Washington, where he saved three championship points in a dramatic final against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
De Minaur also made the final in Rotterdam and semi-finals in Monte-Carlo, Beijing and Vienna. He earned the 300th tour-level victory of his career in Vienna.
The Australian leads the ATP Tour in hard-court wins with 42 as of his third-round victory against Karen Khachanov in Paris.
Only one spot remains at the year-end championships, with Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz already qualified. Lorenzo Musetti is currently eighth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, with Felix Auger-Aliassime 290 points behind. The Canadian is into the Paris quarter-finals.
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Ben Shelton qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals on Thursday when he reached the quarter-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters, leaving only one spot remaining at the season finale in Turin.
Shelton will play in the year-end championships for the first time after a career-best season in which he made his second major semi-final and claimed ATP Masters 1000 glory for the first time.
With Shelton and Taylor Fritz in the field, it is the first time two American singles players will compete for the Brad Drewett Trophy since 2006, when James Blake and Andy Roddick were in the field. Blake advanced to the final that year.
Shelton made a quick start to his 2025 campaign by reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open, where only eventual champion Jannik Sinner was able to stop him.
The big-serving lefty made the Munich final in April and in June cracked the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings, becoming the fourth lefty from the United States to do so (since 1973). He joined Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Roscoe Tanner.
But the former college tennis standout’s biggest moment came in Toronto where, then 22, he became the youngest American Masters 1000 champion since 21-year-old Roddick triumphed in Miami in 2004.
Shelton joined Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic and Fritz in the Nitto ATP Finals field. Only two singles spots remain at the season finale, with Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti currently seventh and eighth, respectively, in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]For nearly four decades, the Rolex Paris Masters has been where the season’s final sparks fly. A place where champions rise to deliver another dazzling performance, where the crowd’s roar bounces off the roof and the lights pulse with every forehand.
Few tournaments blend elegance and energetic chaos quite like Paris. So it feels fitting that, for its 40th edition, the event has moved to La Défense Arena, Europe’s largest indoor sports venue and a bold new stage for indoor tennis.
“It’s stunning. If you like tennis, this is the place to be right now,” said Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. “You can see all the players with so many matches, which is great. Honestly, the attention to detail is second to none. Even the seats for the players, everything is stitched on. It’s beautiful.”
The lights at the Rolex Paris Masters are unique. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
The numbers alone tell the story. The 17,500-seat centre court makes it the second-largest tennis court at a year-round event in the world, behind only Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open.
Situated in the heart of Paris’s business district, the Arena’s interior is divided by 9,000 square metres of blackout curtains, creating a sleek amphitheatre feel. Within those walls are three additional match courts, a practice court and a dedicated gym and warm-up zone for players.
“I think it was great timing to move to our new home, to rewrite our story, to reinvent ourselves and get bigger,” said Cedric Pioline, Tournament Director. “We have a new venue with a new setup. The identity of the tournament will be closer to events such as Roland Garros, where there’s a lot of noise, a lot of life. This is the direction we are going.”
Watch Cedric Pioline talk through new era at La Défense Arena
There has never been a shortage of atmosphere at France’s ATP Masters 1000 event. Last year, Alexander Zverev silenced two home favourites in front of passionate Parisian crowds on his way to the title.
Returning to the French capital this year, the German knew exactly what awaited him — intensity, noise, and emotion, despite the change of venue.
“I just enjoy playing in front of an atmosphere. Whether it’s for me — of course it’s always nicer when the fans are cheering for you — but I also enjoy it when the fans are cheering against you, because there is still energy there, there is still noise,” Zverev told ATPTour.com. “Whether it’s for me or for somebody else, it’s always nicer to play in big stadiums than small ones. It’s something you always dreamed of as a kid.”
No tournament crowd in the world sounds quite like Paris. Impatient, theatrical, passionate — it’s a crowd that lives each point. At La Défense, that heartbeat is multiplied. The expanded stands and the acoustic design turn every ‘Allez’ chant into a rolling wave. For players, it’s a new kind of electricity.
Still, the move wasn’t made lightly. The Accor Arena in Bercy, the event’s longtime home, was rich in history: Novak Djokovic’s record seven titles, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s 2008 breakthrough, the pounding bass that signalled the start and end of matches.
Bercy gave the Rolex Paris Masters its claustrophobic intensity — the sense that anything could happen when the lights dimmed and the music hit. But if those moments belong to memory, they also make the move feel earned.
The tournament has always been about evolution: From smoky halls to global stage, from wood to carbon, from Bercy’s intimacy to La Défense’s scale.
“For the first edition at La Défense Arena, the atmosphere is electric and the ‘Tribune Bleu’ sets the courts alight,” said Charles Tonnelier, a fan from the 12th arrondissement of Paris. “Life off the courts is also very enjoyable, with well-chosen activities contributing to the overall festive atmosphere.”
The Tribune Bleu at La Défense Arena on Day 3. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
The “Tribune Bleu”, a group of die-hard French supporters is a new element of the setup. They flood the stands, lifting home players and energising the crowd with their drums and vuvuzelas. The sound swells, chants echo, and colour fills the stands in ways Bercy’s tighter structure never allowed.
As the ATP Tour season reaches its final stretch, that intensity gives French players a crucial boost. Last year, Ugo Humbert drew on the home energy to defeat Carlos Alcaraz en route to his first ATP Masters 1000 final.
“As a tournament organiser, we always want French tennis players to be supported by the crowd because this adds value to the tournament,” Pioline told ATPTour.com. “Everyone wants to play well. French tennis players want to play well. We saw what happened with Humbert. We saw how much the crowd cheered for him. It is always something that is important.”
<img alt=”Nicolas Mahut” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2025/10/30/14/30/mahut-farewell-paris-2025.jpg?w=100%25″ />Nicolas Mahut plays the final match of his career at La Défense Arena. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
At La Défense Arena, it’s still unmistakably the Rolex Paris Masters. It’s still that late-season drama as players chase qualification for the Nitto ATP Finals, still that mix of sweat, glamour and high-stakes tension.
But now, it feels reborn. The arena’s glow reflects off the glass skyscrapers outside, the crowd surges as the lights fade to green, and the echoes of Paris’s sporting heart fill the air once again.
The stage is larger now. The chaos echoes deeper. The atmosphere, somehow, even more alive.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]