ATP Tour

Sinner soars past Shelton, one step closer to regaining World No. 1

Jannik Sinner powered past Ben Shelton on Friday at the Rolex Paris Masters to reach the semi-finals of the French ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time and continue his push to return to World No. 1.

The second seed delivered a statement in his 400th tour-level match, ousting the American 6-3, 6-3 to extend his indoor winning streak to 24, dating back to November 2023. Should Sinner claim his fifth trophy this season — and first ATP Masters 1000 title of 2025 — he would return to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday.

“It was a very tough match. At times against Ben you don’t have a lot of control because of his incredible serving, but today I felt like I was returning very well,” said Sinner, who won 71 per cent of his second-serve return points, according to Infosys ATP Stats. “Also from the back of the court, I played very solid and also very aggressive, so I’m very happy about today’s match.”

Sinner did not commit a single unforced error off his reliable two-handed backhand and finished with just 10 on his forehand. The Italian was aggressive on second-serve returns and showcased lightning-fast reflexes against Shelton’s hefty delivery.

After earning triple set point at 5-3 in the opener, Sinner converted his second opportunity when he leapt aside to evade Shelton’s booming body serve before running down a backhand and drilling the ball into the open court to close out the 34-minute set.

Sinner wavered briefly at 3-1 in the second set when he was broken to love, with Shelton sealing the game with a banana-curling forehand pass. But Sinner quickly regrouped to race towards a 69-minute victory. Shelton’s bold second-serve gamble, a 190 km/h delivery down break point at 3-4, backfired with a double fault, allowing Sinner to serve for the match.

13th ATP Masters 1000 SF 🙌@janniksin takes out Shelton in straight sets to continue his 23-match winning streak on indoor hard courts🤯@RolexPMasters | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/YuEfcEYaQk

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 31, 2025

Up next for Sinner will be third seed Alexander Zverev, who saved two match points to escape rival Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). Sinner is tied with Zverev at 4-4 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, including the Italian's win last week in the Vienna final.

With his victory Friday, Sinner became the first Italian man to reach 43 tour-level semi-finals, breaking his tie with Fabio Fognini and Adriano Panatta. Sinner is also the first Italian to reach the Rolex Paris Masters semi-finals. Sinner entered the week with just one win across his previous three appearances at the indoor event.

Since falling to Shelton in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting two years ago in Shanghai, Sinner has won seven consecutive matches against the 23-year-old. The Italian is 22-0 against Americans since that defeat and 14-0 against left-handers in that time.