Alcaraz beats Ruud to reach Paris Masters final against Shelton

Carlos Alcaraz will face American Ben Shelton in the Paris Masters final on Sunday after beating Norway's Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-final on Saturday. It will be the first meeting between the two players since Shelton ended Alcaraz's US Open title defence in the quarter-finals earlier this season.

Alcaraz controls the semi-final

The second seed, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, needed no repeat of the heroics from his quarter-final, when he saved two match points to beat Taylor Fritz. Against Ruud, the former world number two, Alcaraz was steady from the back of the court. He broke Ruud's serve in the seventh game of the first set, which proved to be the only break he needed in the match.

In the second set, Alcaraz forced three break points on Ruud's serve and converted the second when the 27-year-old netted an approach shot. The 23-year-old then served out the match, sealing it with an ace on his second match point.

Alcaraz said that reaching his first Paris Masters final "means a lot" to him. He described a long run of early exits at the tournament, including first-round losses he was not used to, and said he was happy with how he had played during the week. "Tomorrow I'm going to step on the court, and I will try to enjoy every single second out there," he said.

Shelton edges past Van Assche

Earlier, Shelton beat France's Luca Van Assche 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to reach his sixth final of the season. Van Assche, ranked world number 47, had reached the semi-finals with wins over former world number five Lorenzo Musetti and Learner Tien, the 15th seed from the United States.

Shelton struggled with errors on his groundstrokes in the first set and lost his serve in the 11th game. He raised his level in the second set, and a forehand passing shot at 15-40 gave him the break that put him ahead 4-2 and forced a third set. The decider was tight, with two error-filled games from each player producing consecutive breaks in the middle. Shelton, who has 10 final appearances on his record, held serve with a backhand winner, broke Van Assche in the next game to lead 4-3, and then closed out the win on his second match point.

Van Assche had led in the deciding set but fell short of the biggest win of his career and his first Masters final. The 22-year-old still had a strong tournament.

A chance for another Masters title

The final will also give Shelton the chance to add a third Masters-level title. He has won the last two editions of the Canadian Open. Speaking after his win, the 24-year-old said it is tough to stay fully engaged this late in the season, but that enjoying himself made it easier. He said he wanted to be in matches like this one against the best players in the world.

Shelton also praised Alcaraz, saying the Spaniard had shown his quality by winning the title in Vienna last week and was playing "great indoor tennis and entertaining tennis as well."