Paul, Shelton, Fritz Lead American Dominance Over French At Paris Masters

Tommy Paul, ATP Tour, Delray Beach Open
Tommy Paul (photo: Florian Heer)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, November 6, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

A common theme found in Thursday’s third-round action at the Rolex Paris Masters centered around the matchups of players from the United States against those representing home country France.

It began with World No. 14 Tommy Paul facing 46th-ranked Quentin Halys, continued with World No. 4 Ben Shelton against No. 68 Arthur Rinderknech, and concluded with World No. 12 Taylor Fritz taking on World No. 7 Arthur Fils.

As it happened, by the end of the trio of Franco-American tussles, which stretched out across both the day and evening sessions at Plenitude Arena, it was all United States. The Americans completed a clean sweep over France.

• First, World No. 14 Tommy Paul booked his quarterfinal spot and kept his Turin hopes alive after defeating 46th-ranked Quentin Halys of France, 7-6 (3), 6-4, in one hour and 35 minutes to begin play on Court Central Thursday afternoon.

Paul, who owns the third-most wins on the ATP Tour this season with 49, put away an overhead smash on his second match-point opportunity to cap a 14-shot rally. The victory advanced him to his 10th career ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal – fourth of this season.

Behind an attack that featured 14 aces and 36 overall winners, Paul saved the only break point he faced and broke Halys’s serve once in eight tries. Paul outpointed Halys 83-67.

During his on-court interview with ATP Media, Paul said he was most pleased with his serve, in which he won all but two first-serve points (43 of 45, 96 percent). “I think I served really well. I got the first couple of points in my service games almost every time. That’s super important to me. My service games were most important to me today,” he said.

With a berth at the Nitto ATP Finals just two wins away, Paul was asked if Turin is on his mind. He replied: “Not much. I’m not even sure who I play next. Just kind of taking it one day at a time. I’ll figure it out and watch that match, kind of scout it a little bit, and get ready for tomorrow’s match.”

• In Friday’s quarterfinals, Paul will face fellow American and No. 3 seed Ben Shelton, who pulled through a tough three-setter to beat No. 68 Arthur Rinderknech of France, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5). The World No. 4 Shelton and Rinderknech duked it out for two hours and three minutes in the second match of the day on Court Central, with a raucous crowd supporting their French hero but also congratulating Shelton on his 43rd win of the season after he secured victory during a tense and exciting third-set tiebreaker.

After splitting the first two sets, the third one went down to the wire. Rinderknech saved a pair of break points, one in the fourth game and the other in the sixth game, and it was on to a decisive tiebreaker to decide who would advance to the last eight.

In the tie-break, Rinderknech gained a mini-break lead at 3-2 and increased it to 4-2. However, Shelton erased the mini-break with a forehand passing shot winner. He leveled the score at 4-all with his 16th service ace. Soon, Shelton surged ahead 5-4, but Rinderknech leveled the score at 5-all. However, Shelton broke Rinderknech and gained a match point at 6-5. Finally, he won the third-round match after securing a nine-shot back-and-forth rally to remain alive in Paris, through to his second-straight quarterfinal in the City of Lights.

“It was a really close match and a very high-quality one,” Shelton said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “I definitely had my chances to break in the third set, and he came up with the serves, came up with the goods on break points, and I didn’t really touch the ball on a break point in the third set.

“A lot of credit to Arthur. He played great on this court. He beat me the last time we played. I played a good tiebreaker. I didn’t make any stupid decisions and came up with the returns when I needed it – at the right times – and, sometimes, on a fast court, that’s all you need.”

As for facing friend and fellow American Paul in Friday’s quarterfinals, Shelton said: “It’s been a lot of time since I’ve been on the court with him. I’m looking forward to it. He’s in great form right now, a great player, a great friend. I’ve been rooting for him all year, to make a push and bring it to Turin. I think there will be fireworks tomorrow.”

• Finally, World No. 12 Taylor Fritz took on French No. 1 Arthur Fils, who was attempting to become the first Frenchman to reach six ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinals in a season in series history – and to reach the Rolex Paris Masters last eight for the first time.

Fritz, who needed to win in order to keep his hopes of this year’s Nitto ATP Finals qualification alive, was lights out on his serve. He won 80 percent of his service points and faced no break points – and it added up to a satisfying 6-3, 6-4 victory over Fils that took just 71 minutes to complete. Fritz added 14 aces – the last, which came during his final service game clocked at 223 km/h – and compiled 29 winners. He outpointed Fils 66-46.

“I just played exactly the way I imagined myself playing when I’m playing well,” Fritz said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “I was returning really well and serving really well. That kind of takes care of itself when I am serving well and playing aggressively. It was fast conditions and it really enabled me when I stepped in and went for the shots.”

Around the Rolex Paris Masters

• World No. 3 and second seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain received a walk-over into the quarterfinal round after his opponent, No. 43 Matteo Berrettini of Italy, withdrew due to an arm injury. Alcaraz, who had won six-straight matches, equaled his best result in Paris after reaching the quarterfinals in 2022. On Friday evening, he will face No. 11 seed Taylor Fritz of the United States for a berth in the semifinals.

• After defeating new World No. 1 Alexander Zverev of Germany in the second round on Wednesday, World No. 24 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy aimed to reach his seventh ATP Masters 1000 – and third on a hard court – when he took on No. 47 Luca Van Assche of France.

However, Van Assche, who was playing in his first ATP Masters 1000 third round and looked to advance to his sixth and biggest ATP Tour quarterfinal, had other ideas.

The 22-year-old Van Assche jumped to No. 39 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings with a dramatic 7-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory in two hours and 38 minutes on Court Central to wrap up the Thursday day session. He hit 29 winners and converted three of six break-point chances. Van Assche outpointed Musetti 94-90.

“As a French player, competing at the Rolex Paris Masters is something special. The atmosphere is unique,” Van Assche said in a post-match interview with Eurosport. “You feel so much support and the crowd stayed with me from the first point to the last. At this stage of the season, players are often tired and being able to draw on that kind of energy is invaluable. It helped me finish strongly today and beat Lorenzo, who is an incredible player and who defeated the world No. 1 yesterday. I’m extremely proud of that.

“A year ago I was ranked around No. 200 in the world and now I’m in the Top 50. It shows how much progress I’ve made in putting my game together. I always knew I had the ability, but knowing it and actually doing it are two very different things. This tournament is the reward for those efforts.”

Next, Van Assche will face 83rd-ranked Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata, who rallied to beat No. 31 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, in two hours and six minutes on Court 1 behind 27 winners. He outpointed his opponent, 85-77.

• Nuno Borges of Portugal has gone from lucky loser to quarterfinalist in a matter of days, the first time a player has achieved that feat at the Paris Masters. The 49th-ranked Borges lost just two games against No. 33 Ignacio Buse of Peru and won, 6-0, 6-2, in one hour and 11 minutes on Court 1 to advance to the last eight. Borges dropped just four points on his first serve, hit 19 winners and outpointed Buse 61-35.

Next, Borges will World No. 23 Casper Ruud of Norway, who eased past No. 39 Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany,  6-3, 6-3, in 63 minutes on Court Central Thursday evening. The Norwegian No. 1 advanced to his 18th ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal – fourth of the season – and second one in Paris following 2021, after hitting 20 winners and making just seven unforced errors. He outpointed Struff 55-40.

The 27-year-old Ruud improved to 19-4 indoors since the start of the 2025 season. His victory over Struff lifted him to No. 19 on the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

• In doubles, Austrian duo Lucas Miedler and Neil Oberleitner, who won the Vienna title last Sunday and the Rolex Shanghai Masters crown two weeks earlier, advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal round with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over No. 8 seeds Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos of Brazil. Next, they will face Petr Nouza of Czechia and Michael Venus of New Zealand, who upset of No. 4 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Meanwhile, French duo Theo Arribage and Albano Olivetti defeated Czech team Adam Pavlasek and Patrik Rikl, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 10-6, to advance to the quarterfinals against French wild cards Quentin Halys and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who fought past No. 3 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, 4-6, 6-3, 10-7.

Also, No. 1 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain advanced over Sadio Doumbia of France and David Pel of the Netherlands, 6-2, 4-6, 10-6. Next, they will face French wild cards Benjamin Bonzi and Arthur Rinderknech, who received a walk-over against No. 6 seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz of Germany.

The final quarterfinal will match Americans Robert Cash and Brandon Nakashima versus No. 2 seeds Christian Harrison of the United States and Neal Skupski of Great Britain.

Thursday’s Paris Masters results

Friday’s Paris Masters order of play

By the numbers

With his third-round victory over Arthur Fils Thursday evening, Taylor Fritz achieved his 100th ATP Masters 1000 win – seventh most among American men. Andre Agassi is the all-time leader among players from the United States with 209 career ATP Masters 1000 victories.

“Quotable …”

“That’s been the key this week for me: To try and impose my game as much as I can and back myself in the big moments. The last few months, I’ve maybe gotten a little bit passive under pressure, but this week I’ve done a good job of sticking to my game and staying aggressive.”

– Rinky Hijikata of Australia, during his on-court interview after defeating seven-time Paris Masters champion Novak Djokovic on Wednesday.

 

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