From the US Open final to early exits in Shanghai and Basel
Shelton reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open, where he lost to Alexander Zverev 6–3, 7–6 (2), 5–7, 6–2. In his next two tournaments, he lost his second match in Shanghai to France’s Arthur Gea and last week in Basel to Switzerland’s Jerome Kim in a final set tiebreak.
In Paris, he beat Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4 and Rinderknecht, his 43rd win of 2026, a personal best in a season. He runs into an American Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals on Friday.
The top seeds fall in Paris
Shelton’s words follow Wednesday is a day of shockwhen world No. 1 Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur and Francis Tiafoe all lost their opening matches and Novak Djokovic was knocked out by qualifier Rinki Hijikata. Medvedev Described the Paris tournament as a puzzle after his loss to Ignacio Buss.
For the first time since the tournament’s inaugural edition 40 years ago, no former Paris semifinalist has advanced to the last 16.
The last 16 of the Rolex Paris Masters 2026 and their best performance in Paris
| Player: | Country: | Seed | The best result in Paris |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lorenzo Musetti | ATA: | Quarter finals (2022) | |
| Luca Van Assche | WHY? | Last 16:00 (2026) | |
| Rinki Hijikata | OUT | Q: | Last 16:00 (2026) |
| Thomas Martin Etcheverry | Armenian gas | Last 16:00 (2026) | |
| Ben Shelton | USA: | 3: | Quarter finals (2025) |
| Arthur Rinderknecht | WHY? | Last 16:00 (2024, 2026) | |
| Tommy Paul | USA: | 12:00 | Quarter finals (2022) |
| Quentin Hallis | WHY? | Last 16:00 (2026) | |
| Jan-Lennard Struff | FAT: | SE: | Last 16:00 (2016, 2019, 2026) |
| Casper Rudd | NOR: | Quarter finals (2021) | |
| Nuno Borges | BY: | LL | Last 16:00 (2026) |
| Ignacio bus | PER: | Last 16:00 (2026) | |
| Arthur son | WHY? | 6:00 | Last 16:00 (2024, 2026) |
| Taylor Fritz | USA: | 11:00 | Quarter finals (2021) |
| Matteo Berettini | ATA: | Last 16:00 (2026) | |
| Carlos Alcaraz | ESP: | 2: | Quarter finals (2022) |
Top results ahead of Thursday’s last-16 matches in Paris, from ATP media notes for November 5. Tournament. Question: qualifier. SE. specially exempted. LL. lucky loser. WHY?French players.
“Obviously we have a really long schedule and some guys are already looking forward to their time off,” Shelton said. “For me (…) it’s a blessing and a huge motivation.”
Shelton is already qualified Nitto ATP Finals In Turin (November 15-22), the last event of the season. He will share that stage with a close friend, Arthur Fils, who qualified for the ATP Finals for the first time on Wednesday.
“I think he’s had a great season, especially with the tournaments where he’s been injured and missed, but also the tournaments where people don’t know he’s injured and he’s playing because of the injury,” Shelton said. “I’m really happy for him, just really excited for him to get his first chance in Turin. I think he plays at such a high level, he improves every year and we’re really close friends. So I’m excited to share it with him this year, and hopefully some other Americans as well.”
