Jannik Sinner took a step closer to reclaiming the world number one ranking on Friday after defeating Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters.
The Italian beat the American 6-3 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1,000 event in the French capital for the first time. His victory came a day after Carlos Alcaraz’s surprise second-round loss to Cameron Norrie, meaning Sinner can overtake the Spaniard if he wins the title in Paris.
Sinner, 24, recorded his seventh consecutive win over Shelton and will now face third seed Alexander Zverev, who saved two match points to edge out Daniil Medvedev in a three-set thriller.
“I’m very happy,” Sinner told Sky Sports after the match. “It was a very, very tough match. At times you don’t have much control because of his incredible serving, but today I felt I was returning very well. From the back of the court I played very solid and very aggressive.”
Although Sinner dropped serve midway through the second set, he quickly regained control to seal victory inside 70 minutes. “At the moment I’m not thinking about the ranking,” added the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion. “It’s a consequence of how I’m playing. Making the semis here in Paris means a lot. It has been a very long season with some great results and I never take them for granted.”
Zverev, the defending champion, fought back to beat Medvedev 2-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) to book his place in the last four.
In the other quarter-final matches, Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik reached his first Masters semi-final after defeating Australian sixth seed Alex de Minaur 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 7-5. The 13th seed will next face Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who cruised past Shanghai Masters champion Valentin Vacherot 6-2 6-2.
