Carlos Alcaraz sets up Paris Masters final against Ben Shelton, eyes 'revenge' for US Open loss

Carlos Alcaraz advanced to his third final since the US Open on Saturday, beating Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in the Paris Masters semifinals.

The No. 2 seed will meet No. 3 seed Ben Shelton for the title after the American fought back from a break down in the deciding set to defeat unseeded Frenchman Luca Van Assche 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Alcaraz holds a 3-1 edge in his head-to-head with Shelton, but he lost their most recent encounter, a late-night quarterfinal marathon at the US Open that finished at 3:33 a.m. That defeat is clearly still on his mind. "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."

A day after saving two match points against Taylor Fritz on Friday, Alcaraz was rarely troubled by Ruud. He did not face a single break point and sealed the victory with an ace, improving to seven wins in eight meetings against the Norwegian.

Alcaraz is chasing his fifth title of the year, having won Vienna last Sunday, and the 29th of his career.

Shelton, the US Open runner-up, appeared to be in difficulty when Van Assche broke his serve for a 3-1 lead in the third set, returning Shelton's looping serve with a whipped forehand pass down the line. But Shelton responded by winning the next four games to move ahead 5-3. After Van Assche held under pressure, Shelton served out the match.

"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." The win moved him closer to his fifth title of the year and eighth overall, and he remains on course for a third Masters crown after twice winning in Montreal.

For Van Assche, it was a missed opportunity. Playing in his first Masters semifinal, he edged a tight opening set before Shelton leveled the match by completing a love hold with a sharp backhand volley at the net. After surrendering his third-set lead, Van Assche appeared to flag physically, and Shelton cracked a smile when his 19th ace of the match made it 5-3. Van Assche's only career title came this year on outdoor clay at Estoril in Portugal.

"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."