Carlos Alcaraz claimed his first Paris Masters title after beating Ben Shelton in straight sets in the final of the season's last ATP Masters event.

The Spaniard prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 in just under two hours on Court Centrale at the Plenitude Arena, for the ninth ATP Masters 1000 title of his career.

Alcaraz was locking horns with Shelton for the first time since the American came out on top in their epic five-set quarter-final at the US Open two months ago.

There was nothing to separate the two players during a tense opening set, in which Shelton failed to convert six break-point opportunities.

Those missed chances would prove costly for the American, despite him going 4-3 up in the tie-break, as Alcaraz won four of the last five points to draw first blood.

Shelton landed the opening blow of the second set, too, claiming the first break of the final in game five on his way to a 4-2 lead.

That proved a false dawn, though. Alcaraz broke back at the next opportunity and the two-time French Open champion grew stronger as the finish line drew nearer, winning five of the last six games to get over the line in Paris once more.

16 - Carlos Alcaraz (16) has surpassed Jannik Sinner (15) for the outright-most combined titles at Grand Slam and ATP Masters 1000 events since the start of the decade. Leader. #RolexParisMasters | @RolexPMasters @atptour https://t.co/ZeybhftEGC

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) November 8, 2026

King Carlos reigns in Paris

Alcaraz, on an eight-match winning streak after his victory in Vienna last time out, was aiming to become only the second Spanish champion of this event, after David Ferrer in 2012.

The seven-time major winner was forced to rescue six break points to keep the opening set on serve, and he stood up when the pressure was raised to edge his nose ahead in the final.

Shelton was eyeing a third ATP Masters title and looking to become only the fourth left-handed winner of this event.

Having come from behind twice already in this tournament, he was never going to panic, and it looked like he could level the final after breaking in game five.

Alcaraz appeared rattled at that point, though he always felt capable of averting the danger. After all, he had survived two match points against Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals.

From 4-2 down, the Spaniard did not look back. Shelton had only won one of his 18 matches against top-three players, and Alcaraz pounced on that.

After turning things around to get the job done, he improved his career win rate against top-10 opponents to 69.4% (59-26), a percentage only bettered by Bjorn Borg (72.2%).

Back in the ATP Masters winners' circle, having not triumphed in such an event since last year in Cincinnati, he surpasses Jannik Sinner (15) for the most combined titles at grand slam and ATP Masters events since the start of the decade (16).