Sinner reached the semi-finals of the Paris Masters

Sinner had an impressive performance in his 400th match on the ATP Tour, thereby extending his winning streak on indoor hard courts to 24 matches, starting from November 2023. If he wins his fifth championship this season, and the first Masters 1000 title of 2025, the Italian will return to the top of the ATP table next Monday.

"When facing Ben, sometimes You can't control the match because of his great serve ability. But today I returned serve very well," Sinner said, after winning 71% of the points when returning the second serve. "From the back of the field, I also played solidly and attacked strongly, so I'm very satisfied with today's performance ".

Sinner did not make any unforced errors with her two-handed backhand and only 10 errors with her forehand. He attacked strongly when returning the second serve and reacted extremely quickly to Shelton's powerful serves.

In the first set, leading 5-3, Sinner had three set-points and took advantage of the second opportunity, when he neutralized a serve straight at Shelton's body, moved to the left to save the ball and responded with a backhand to score, closing the set after 34 minutes.

Sinner slowed down a bit in the second set when Shelton broke him. white game at 3-1 after the opponent's beautiful curling forehand passing shot. However, the 24-year-old quickly regained his position and ended the match after only 69 minutes. Shelton took a risk with a 190 km/h two-speed serve when he had to save a break point at 3-4, but double-faulted, giving Sinner a chance to serve to end the match.

Sinner's next opponent will be No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev, who saved two match points to come back and defeat Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). The head-to-head record between the two players is currently 4-4, including Sinner's most recent victory in the Vienna final last week..

With the victory over Shelton, Sinner became the first Italian male player to reach the milestone of 43 semi-finals at the ATP Tour level, surpassing Fabio Fognini and Adriano Panatta, and also the first Italian to reach the semi-finals of the Paris Masters. Before this year's tournament, Sinner had only won one match in three previous appearances.

Since losing to Shelton in their first meeting two years ago in Shanghai, Sinner has won 7 consecutive matches against this American player. More broadly, he is on a streak of 22 consecutive wins against American players and 14 consecutive wins against left-handed players.