Alcaraz Finally Conquers Paris, Edging Shelton 7-6, 7-5 for a Ninth Masters Crown

Carlos Alcaraz stood with his arms spread wide, a broad smile breaking across his face, and for a moment he looked close to tears. Paris had finally given in. The 23-year-old Spaniard beat Ben Shelton 7-6 (5), 7-5 in the Paris Masters final on Sunday, closing out a title he had been chasing for years and adding a ninth Masters 1000 crown to a collection that keeps growing stranger and more complete.

"It is something I have been chasing for a long time. Some of the toughest defeats I ever had in my career I have had here," Alcaraz said afterwards. "Finally I got my level here. I found the right path and the right way to do things."

It was hard work from the first ball. Shelton had Alcaraz 0-40 down in the fourth game, and the Spaniard had to save four break points just to hold. He saved six in the set altogether, and when the tiebreak came, Shelton led 4-3 before his forehand started missing. Three times in the breaker he overshot the baseline, and Alcaraz took it 7-5 when Shelton pushed one more forehand wide.

The second set looked like it might belong to the American. Shelton broke for the first time in the match and held for 4-2. But Alcaraz broke straight back when Shelton hit a forehand long, levelled at 4-4, and never let the momentum slip again. Serving to stay in the match at 5-6, Shelton stumbled once more, and Alcaraz sealed it on his second match point with a two-handed backhand down the line.

The win is Alcaraz's second title in as many weeks after Vienna last Sunday, his fifth of the year and the 29th of his career. It also settles a score. Two months ago Shelton beat him in a US Open quarter-final that finished at 3:33 in the morning. On Sunday, Alcaraz won their fourth meeting in five, then walked around the net to hug Shelton and pat him on the chest.

There is a neat symmetry in the story, too. Shelton has just added Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz's long-time former coach, to his own team, and there was no sign of awkwardness between them. Both men congratulated each other's shots throughout a final full of net rushes and improbable retrieves.

For Alcaraz, the numbers keep stacking up. He is the first Spaniard to win Paris since David Ferrer in 2012, and only the third man, after Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, to win Masters 1000 titles in five consecutive years. The victory takes his winning streak to ten matches, and it comes just two months after he returned from a right wrist injury in late August, having already won the Japan Open last month. He nearly went out on Friday, saving two match points against Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals.

"I am really proud of myself and the team, the way they have pushed me forward," Alcaraz said. "This one means a lot to me."

Shelton, 24, was chasing an eighth career title and a third Masters crown, and he leaves Paris with 650 ranking points and €532,120. Alcaraz takes home 1,000 points and €974,370 and stays at world No. 3. Both men now head to Turin for the ATP Finals, and after a final like this one, neither will arrive short of belief.