Carlos Alcaraz revealed that his Paris Masters triumph “means a lot” after defeating Ben Shelton to lift the title for the very first time.

World No 3 Alcaraz battled past Shelton in a hard-fought contest to lift the ninth Masters 1000 title of his career on Sunday, rallying from a break down in the second set to seal a 7-6(5), 7-5 victory against the American.

Alcaraz’s win saw him defeat Shelton in their first encounter since losing to his rival in the last eight of the US Open in September, and also saw him claim his first Masters 1000 title since claiming his first Cincinnati Open title in August 2025.

The Paris Masters had not previously been the 23-year-old’s happiest hunting ground, with just one quarter-final showing in his five previous appearances at the prestigious tournament.

He memorably suffered a tough round-three defeat against home favourite Hugo Gaston on his tournament debut back in 2021, with a shock three-set defeat to Cameron Norrie in the second round twelve months ago also among his previous disappointing results at the event.

However, after saving two match points in his quarter-final against Taylor Fritz, Alcaraz has finally triumphed at the tournament, and has now prevailed at seven of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments on the calendar — with just the Canadian Open and Shanghai Masters missing from his collection.

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“Well, I mean, it’s something I’ve been chasing for a long time, to be honest,” said Alcaraz, speaking to Tennis TV. 

“Probably one of the toughest losses I ever had in my career, I had here. A couple of first rounds, a couple of second rounds, not finding my best level, not feeling comfortable on this surface, on this court.

“Finally, I got my level here, I found the right path, the right way to do the things. So I’m just really proud of myself, really proud of my team, everything they’ve done to me, always pushing me forward.

“This one means a lot to me.”

Victory for the seven-time Grand Slam champion continues a rich vein of form, with the Spaniard having now won three of the four tournaments he has contested since his US Open loss to Shelton.

Alcaraz is also now riding a nine-match win streak, having lifted the title at the ATP 500 Vienna Open just last Sunday.

The Spaniard will now have one week off before he returns to action at the ATP Finals, where — much like in Paris — he will also be looking to lift the title for the first time.

Alcaraz reached the final at the tournament for the first time in 2025, though was beaten by Jannik Sinner in the final last November.

With world No 2 and two-time defending champion Sinner absent from the event this year, world No 3 Alcaraz will be the second seed at the tournament, behind world No 1 Alexander Zverev — who has already secured the world No 1 ranking.

However, Alcaraz will arguably be the favourite for the title heading in.