Carlos Alcaraz has moved ahead of Jannik Sinner in another interesting statistic after winning the Paris Masters, becoming the player with the most combined Grand Slam and Masters 1000 titles since the beginning of 2020.
The 23-year-old Spaniard defeated Ben Shelton 7-6 (5), 7-5 in Sunday’s final, winning his first title at the tournament and ninth Masters 1000 trophy overall. It was also his fifth title of the 2026 season.
According to statistics published by OptaAce, Alcaraz has now collected 16 titles across Grand Slam and Masters 1000 tournaments since 2020. His Italian rival is second with 15, while 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic occupies third place with 14.
Alexander Zverev has won six titles across these two categories during the same period, while Daniil Medvedev completes the top five with five trophies.
Alcaraz has won seven Grand Slam titles and nine Masters 1000 tournaments in his career. Sinner has more Masters trophies than the Spaniard, but the difference in Grand Slam titles has allowed Carlos to take the lead in this particular statistic.
The former world No. 1 was quite delighted with Sunday’s victory, especially because he had experienced some difficult defeats in Paris during previous years.
Alcaraz gets revenge against Shelton
The Paris Masters final was another meeting between two players who had already produced a very interesting match at the US Open in September. Shelton won that encounter in five sets, eliminating the Spaniard in the quarterfinals.
However, Carlos managed to get his revenge in Paris, although the American had several opportunities to make Sunday’s final even more difficult.
Shelton created four break points in the fourth game of the opening set, but Alcaraz saved all of them. The American later had another two opportunities at 4-3, although the Spaniard again managed to hold his serve.
Neither player secured a break during the opening set, which eventually went into a tiebreak. Alcaraz played the important points better and took it 7-5.
The second set was also quite difficult for the seven-time Grand Slam champion. Shelton broke his serve and established a 4-2 advantage, putting himself in a good position to force a deciding set.
However, the 23-year-old responded by winning five of the next six games. He eventually completed the victory after one hour and 57 minutes, improving his head-to-head record against Shelton to 4-1.
Speaking about his opponent, Alcaraz admitted that facing the American’s serve was a difficult task. The Spaniard was particularly happy that he managed to find solutions during the important moments.
Alcaraz prepares for the ATP Finals
The Paris title was another positive result for the Spaniard after his return from a wrist injury. Carlos had missed several months of competition earlier in the season and returned at the US Open, where Shelton ended his campaign.
Since that defeat, the former world No. 1 has enjoyed a very good period. He won the Japan Open in Tokyo, defeating Jiri Lehecka in the final, before adding another title at the Vienna Open against Alex de Minaur.
His only defeat during that stretch of ATP tournaments was against Zizou Bergs in the second round of the Shanghai Masters. The Spaniard now has three titles since returning to competition.
Another interesting detail is that Alcaraz has now won seven of the nine different Masters 1000 tournaments. The two missing trophies are the Canadian Open and Shanghai Masters.
Only Djokovic and Sinner have managed to win all nine Masters 1000 events during their careers. Carlos will have another opportunity to get closer to that achievement next season.
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old is preparing for the ATP Finals in Turin, where he will attempt to win the season-ending tournament for the first time.
Alcaraz reached the final last year but lost to Sinner. This time, the Italian will not participate because of a knee injury, while Zverev enters the tournament as the highest-ranked player.
The Spaniard is currently ranked third in the world and hopes that his recent results will help him finish the season with another trophy.
His Paris Masters victory also means that he has won Masters 1000 titles in five consecutive seasons, joining Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as the only players to achieve that in the history of the series.
