Carlos Alcaraz will meet Ben Shelton in the final Masters 1000 final of 2026.
Chris OddoNovember 7, 20262 minute read
Carlos Alcaraz missed four and a half months due to a debilitating wrist injury this spring and summer. Two months after his initial return, the Spanish wunderkind is playing at the peak of his powers once again.
Alcaraz reached his maiden Paris Masters final on Saturday, taking out Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to set up a final with Ben Shelton on Sunday at the Plenitude Arena.
Alcaraz will bid to win his seventh different Masters event, having already won Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid, Rome and Cincinnati.
The 23-year-old stretched his winning streak to eight and improved to 41-5 on the season as he reached his sixth ATP final of 2026. Alcaraz, into his 11th Masters final overall, ties Boris Becker and Daniil Medvedev for ninth on the all-time list.
“I’m really proud of myself,” he said. “This tournament has always been really tough for me. I struggled every time that I came here. The farthest that I went was the quarterfinals.”
Alcaraz, who missed a large swath of tournaments this spring, including Roland Garros and Wimbledon, due to said wrist injury, is happy to be back in good health and excited to be finding his peak form.
“It has been an unusual year for me. Everything is a little bit different. I’m hungry, ambitious and excited about coming into the tournaments, playing matches and competing,” he said.
Alcaraz hit 13 forehand winners to four for Ruud and won 11 of 13 points at the net in the 86-minute contest. He never faced a break point and converted two of his five break points.
Alcaraz lost to Shelton in a thrill ride that ended at 3:33 a.m. at this year’s US Open, and the four-hour, 28-minute marathon is still front and center in his mind.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow,” he said. “I want to prepare myself as best as I can and give myself a chance. I really want to take revenge against Ben. Last time it was a pretty tough match… I am going to try to do different things in those little moments, important moments, that I probably didn’t do well the last time.
“I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a great match to watch, and for me to play, and of course to learn.”
Alcaraz leads Shelton 3-1 in their head-to-head, having won their first three encounters, at Toronto in 2023, Laver Cup in 2024 and Roland Garros in 2025.
