Sinner Advances to Paris Masters Semifinals After Victory Over Shelton

PARIS — Jannik Sinner defeated Ben Shelton 6-3, 6-3 on Friday, advancing to the semifinals of the Paris Masters for the first time and moving closer to regaining the world No. 1 ranking.

Sinner’s victory marks his seventh consecutive win against Shelton and extends his indoor winning streak to 24 matches dating back to November 2023. If he wins the Paris title, it will be his first Masters trophy of the year, and he will return to No. 1 in the world rankings next Monday.

In the semifinals, Sinner will face defending champion Alexander Zverev. Zverev secured his spot after overcoming Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), ending a five-match losing streak against him over the past two years.

No. 3-ranked Zverev and No. 2 Sinner faced off in the Vienna final last weekend, where Sinner won in a close third set 7-5. Their head-to-head record now stands at 4-4.

During his match against Medvedev, Zverev saved two match points at 4-5 in the final set. Medvedev, who previously defeated Zverev in the 2020 Paris final, fought back in the tiebreaker but Zverev managed to pull away and win after a grueling 2½ hours.

“Daniil is kind of my kryptonite, I don’t like playing him,” Zverev said after the match. “He’s somebody who has had my number for the last couple of years. I’m very pleased with the win for sure. Against Jannik, we had a fantastic match last Sunday. I’m happy to be on court with him again. Hopefully we share another great match.”

In another quarterfinal, Felix Auger-Aliassime ended wild-card Valentin Vacherot‘s impressive run in Paris with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Vacherot had won 10 consecutive Masters matches, including his first title in Shanghai earlier this month.

Auger-Aliassime, who described Vacherot as “confident” and “scary,” maintained focus from the start of the match. “This level of intensity helped ease me into the match,” he said.

Auger-Aliassime will face Alexander Bublik in the semifinals. Bublik advanced by defeating sixth-seeded Alex de Minaur 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5 without dropping serve. Bublik has won 30 of 37 matches since the French Open and is the first Kazakh player to reach a Masters semifinal.