By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Photo credit: Pete Staples/USTA
The Plenitude Arena presents a faster Paris pace this week.
Americans accelerated through opening tests.
US Open finalist Ben Shelton won 28 of 32 first-serve points sweeping Cameron Norrie, 6-3, 6-4, in a clash of left-handers at the Rolex Paris Masters today.
In his first match since news of his 2027 coaching partnership with former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero emerged, Shelton played commanding offensive tennis, improving to 42-18 on the season. The two-time Canadian Open champion matched his career-best 42 wins in a season (42-26 in 2024).
“I thought it was pretty clinical other than the one game I dropped on serve in the second set I was disappointed with,” Shelton told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj afterward. “I was happy with the resilience.
“I thought I played clean. I returned well. I played as aggressive as I needed to, but I didn’t over play.
“I think that on a fast indoor court that’s kind of the compromise. You gotta be able to balance playing with speed sometimes, taking your foot off the gas and handling the pace that’s coming at you. Because it can be tricky when the ball is coming fast.”
Chasing his fifth title of the season, Shelton will play either Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech or left-handed Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci in the round of 16.
The 24-year-old Shelton led an impressive American advance in Paris today.
Five of the six Americans in action—Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Learner Tien and Alex Michelsen—posted victories to advance.
American Brandon Nakashima held two match points in the tie break before suffering a gut-wrenching 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(8) loss to Italian Matteo Berrettini.
It was Berrettini’s first career main-draw win in Paris. The 14th-seeded Nakashima held match points at 6-5 and 8-7 in the tie break. Berrettini boomed some heavy forehands to prevail. Berrettini banged 17 aces and faced only two break points.
Tommy Paul pumped 12 aces against one double fault and saved three of four break points in a 7-5, 6-4 win over 2022 champion Holger Rune. Paul improved to 47-21 on the season—the third-most wins behind No. 1 Alexander Zverev (65) and Daniil Medvedev (52).
The 12th-seeded Paul will play rising Spanish star Daniel Merida in round two. The winner of that match will face either seventh-seeded Frances Tiafoe or Frenchman Quentin Halys in the round of 16.
Twenty-year-old Learner Tien topped lucky loser Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. The 2025 Metz champion Tien improved to 7-1 on French indoor hard courts. Tien will play Frenchman Luca Van Assche next—the winner will face either world No. 1 Alexander Zverev or Lorenzo Musetti in the round of 16.
Washington, DC champion Taylor Fritz subdued French qualifier Benjamin Bonzi, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The 11th-seeded Fritz scored his Tour-best 11th indoor win of the year setting up a round two clash vs. Alex Molcan.
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