Shelton, after losing to Alcaraz: "Whenever I play against you, you bring out the best in me"

Ben Shelton could not achieve his second consecutive victory against Carlos Alcaraz after losing in the final of the Masters 1000 in Paris to the Spaniard, who won his first title on the indoor hard court in Paris after a closely contested match that was decided by small details, in which the Murcian was more accurate to claim victory 7-6(5), 7-5.

In fact, the American, the new player of Juan Carlos Ferrero, had many opportunities to take the lead during the match. He even had six break points in the first set that he could not convert. Later, in the second set, he managed to break the Spaniard’s serve, but squandered it two games later, surrendering to the might of Alcaraz.

Alcaraz defeated Shelton for the fourth time in his career

Therefore, at the subsequent award ceremony, the American once again did not hesitate to praise the Spaniard's tennis: “First of all, I want to thank everyone who came today, it has been an incredible week, but I want to congratulate Carlos and his team. No one knows how difficult it is to win in Vienna and Paris in two weeks, 10 matches in 14 days. From a slow court to a very fast one, I want to highlight your versatility as a champion and the work your team puts in. Every time I play against you, you bring out the best in me, I feel that I improve every time I’m on the court with you, and I’m very happy that you’re back well and healthy.”

Ben Shelton after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the Paris Masters final “First of all, I want to thank god.God. I feel blessed to play in front of you guys in this arena... I want togive a big congratulations to Carlos, of course also your team. I don't think that everybody realizes how difficult it is to go back-to-back in Vienna and Paris. 10 matches in 14 days, 2 weeks, going from a slow court to a fast court. I think it speaks to your versatility as a champion, the work that you and your team put in. Every time that we're on the court together, I feel that you bring out the best in in me. I feel I get better every time I'm on the court with you. Super happy to have you back and healthy.” ❤️

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) November 8, 2026

After these kind words, he also sent a message to his team, still without Ferrero, who will join starting in 2027, regarding the last two weeks of the season with the ATP Finals on the horizon: “I want to talk about my team and my family. We have put in a lot of work together, and this is still not over, the work continues.”
 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Shelton, tras caer con Alcaraz: "Siempre que juego contra ti sacas lo mejor de mí"