Ben Shelton Prepares for 2025 Paris Masters After Mixed Results

PARIS, France — Ben Shelton is set to compete in the 2025 Paris Masters after a year of ups and downs in tennis. Following his campaign at the Swiss Indoors, where he had a strong start but fell to Jaume Munar, Shelton reflected on his mixed performance this season.

At the Swiss Indoors, Shelton defeated Kamil Majchrzak in the first round but lost to Munar. He also participated in the doubles, partnering with Rohan Bopanna to reach the semifinals, only to be stopped by Adam Pavlásek and Jan Zieliński.

This year, Shelton made significant strides in Grand Slam tournaments, reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open and quarterfinals at Wimbledon. He advanced to the fourth and third rounds at the French Open and US Open, respectively. His standout performance was capturing the 2025 Canadian Open title, while he also finished as the runner-up at the BMW Open and reached the semifinals at both the BOSS Open and the Citi DC Open.

In a recent interview with Tennis TV, Shelton described his journey in 2025 as a “rollercoaster,” noting that it hasn’t been simply about winning, but about managing slumps and finding consistency. “There’s been times where I’ve played really well. There’s been times where I haven’t played so well,” he said.

As he reflected on the North American hard-court swing, the World No. 6 said it is his favorite time of year. “Playing well in North America, in the summer…was the really cool part,” he added. Shelton emphasized the importance of continuous improvement in tennis, stating that players risk being overshadowed if they don’t evolve their game.

“If you’re just trying to stay where you’re at…you fall behind,” he noted. He is focused on improving his level year after year, adhering to this philosophy alongside his team.

The 2025 Paris Masters began on October 27 and will continue until November 2 at the La Défense Arena. Shelton, seeded fifth, will start his campaign in the second round against Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, who won his first-round match against Tomáš Macháč. The previous encounters between Shelton and Cobolli resulted in a win for each player, with their most recent match at the 2025 Canadian Open ending in Shelton’s favor.

The victor of the Shelton-Cobolli match will advance to the third round to meet either 12th seed Andrey Rublev or Learner Tien.