Alcaraz looking for revenge after lining up Shelton in the Paris Masters final

PARIS (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz reached his third final since the U.S. Open when he accounted for Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 at the Paris Masters on Saturday.

No. 2-seeded Alcaraz will play No. 3 Ben Shelton for the title after the American rallied from a break down in the deciding set to beat Luca Van Assche 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in their semifinal.

Alcaraz leads 3-1 against Shelton but lost their last meeting in a late-night quarterfinal marathon at the U.S. Open which ended at 3:33 a.m.

“I really want to take revenge against Ben,” Alcaraz said. “Last time was a pretty tough match. I’m going to try to do different things at little moments, important moments, that I probably didn’t do well last time.”

Having saved two match points against Taylor Fritz on Friday, Alcaraz rarely looked under pressure against Ruud and did not face a break point, concluding the match with an ace. He’s beaten Ruud seven times in eight meetings.

Alcaraz told fans it will be “a great match to watch” against Shelton and seems in the mood to entertain them.

Among the Spanish showman’s best shots against Ruud was a superb volleyed drop-shot winner in the fourth game of the second set, which involved an almost imperceptible flick of the wrist and drew loud applause at Plenitude Arena.

“I’m really happy and proud of myself,” Alcaraz said. “I’ve come into this part of the season much fresher, hungry, ambitious, excited.”

Alcaraz looks for his fifth title of the year — he won Vienna last Sunday — and the 29th of his career.

Shelton fights back

Shelton looked in trouble when Van Assche broke his serve for a 3-1 lead in the third set.

But the U.S. Open runner-up responded by winning the next four games to lead 5-3 against the unseeded Frenchman.

“I know there is always going to be some little chance I can execute,” Shelton said. “If I can be brave and keep winning my serve and stick with the guy, I feel there is a small window.”

After Van Assche held under pressure, Shelton served out the match to move closer to his fifth title of the year and eighth overall. Shelton is on course for a third Masters title having twice won the Montreal title.

Missed opportunity

Van Assche’s only career title came this year on outdoor clay at Estoril in Portugal.

He was appearing in his first Masters semifinal and edged a tight first set. Shelton tied the match by completing a love hold with a sharp backhand volley at the net.

Van Assche broke for a 3-1 lead when he returned Shelton’s looping serve with a whipped forehand pass down the line.

But Shelton broke straight back, held to love for 3-3 and then broke again as Van Assche appeared to flag physically. Shelton cracked a smile when his 19th ace of the match made it 5-3.

“I made a significant amount of forehand unforced errors in the first set and, really, my goal after that was to cut out those unforced errors (and) use the speed of the court to my advantage,” Shelton said. “I really found a great rhythm.”

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