Alcaraz takes revenge on Shelton to lift his first indoor Masters 1000 in Paris

Future successes are built on afternoons like this. A Masters 1000 is not a Grand Slam, it does not look the same nor count the same, but the one that Carlos Alcaraz lifted in Paris this Sunday has enormous value. That's it. If the injury to his right wrist was the worst blow of his career, it is now behind him. It's not even worth remembering. Many months later, the Spaniard has recovered his highest level, the tennis that he showed in the last Australian Open and that, from now on, he must only aspire to maintain. Without precautions or doubts. In the Paris final, against Ben Shelton, the same one who eliminated him in the quarterfinals of the last US Open, the current world number three confirmed with a 7-6(5) and 7-5 that there will be many more celebrations in the remainder of the year and, above all, in 2027 and beyond. If some catastrophists thought that it was the beginning of the end of their career, nothing could be further from the truth. Just an obstacle, already overcome.

In the final of the Paris Masters 1000, his first ATP category title indoors, there was also the excitement of facing who will be the next pupil of his former coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero. A good story, another ingredient for the previous one. But, in reality, for the Spaniard it didn't matter that much either. He maintains a good relationship with Shelton and his breakup with Ferrero, so hot a few months ago, now belongs to the past. What really mattered to Alcaraz was measuring himself against his version from a few weeks ago, the one that fell to that same Shelton in Flushing Meadows, and in that comparison he came out clearly the winner.