After edging past Arthur Rinderknech in the Round of 16, Ben Shelton played out another grueling clash at the Paris Masters. His compatriot Tommy Paul took him to the limit in the quarterfinals, but it wasn’t enough as the World No. 4 triumphed 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. This result eliminated Paul from the race to the ATP Finals and largely benefited Frances Tiafoe.

Shelton’s victory meant that Tiafoe secured a place in the ATP Finals for the first time ever. The latter stands eighth in the race to the year-end tournament with 3,390 points and now has a spot secured. He is the second American to qualify for the event, as Shelton had already booked his place long before and is currently fourth on the list with 4,920 points.

The 24-year-old had to dig deep to reach the semifinals of the Paris Masters. Paul proved to be quite a challenge and took the match down to the wire, but came up short in the end. Both players were pretty strong with their serves throughout the match. Only three breaks of serve occurred in the match, with Shelton claiming two of them. A break each in the first and third sets was enough for him to clinch the match.

Shelton fired 19 aces to Paul’s tally of seven during the match. He has now hit 41 aces in three matches in the tournament. However, his performances haven’t been comprehensive by any means. Shelton began the event on a high, defeating Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4. But the match against Rinderknech was quite a challenge and went down to the decider.

Shelton made a remarkable comeback after losing the opening set and triumphed 3-6, 6-4, 7-6. He also had a difficult match against Paul, but eventually pulled through to reach the semifinals for the first time at the Paris Masters.

Paul had an uphill task in front of him arriving at the tournament. He had to win the coveted title in order to have a chance of qualifying for the ATP Finals. While the 29-year-old did perform brilliantly in the first three matches and didn’t drop a set, Shelton proved to be a step too far for him. The World No. 4 did a favor for Tiafoe, who was defeated by Quentin Halys earlier in the Round of 32.

While Tiafoe may have secured a spot in the ATP Finals, his recent form has been quite concerning. He has won just two matches in his last four tournaments and has been knocked out in the opening round in the previous two events. This poor run of form put his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals in jeopardy, but he managed to make the cut.

His qualification means that seven of the eight participants have now been determined. The last spot is still up for grabs, and there are two players who are in contention. There is a possibility that three Americans could be competing at the ATP Finals next week.

Rafael Jodar and Taylor Fritz are in contention for the last ATP Finals spot

Spain’s Rafael Jodar appears to be the frontrunner to clinch the final spot. The Spaniard currently stands ninth in the race with 3,234 points. He could reach the tournament despite suffering a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Casper Ruud in the Round of 32 at the Paris Masters. But Taylor Fritz can spoil his party. He is currently 11th on the list with 3,050 points.

Fritz is still competing at the Paris Masters and has reached the quarterfinals. He needs to make it to the final to surpass Jodar and reach the year-end tournament. He has had an impressive tournament so far, defeating Benjamin Bonzi and Alex Molcan, respectively, in the opening two matches. Fritz then knocked out Arthur Fils 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last 8.

But he has a monumental task ahead of him, as he will be up against Carlos Alcaraz next. The Spaniard has already secured a place in the ATP Finals, but he would want to clinch his maiden Paris Masters title. He will also be much fresher than Fritz, as he reached the quarterfinals without having to play in the Round of 16. This is because his opponent Matteo Berrettini withdrew from the clash due to injury.

Alcaraz can be considered the favorite for the clash against Fritz as he has a commanding 6-1 lead in the H2H record. The two recently clashed at the Laver Cup, where the World No. 3 dramatically triumphed 6-3, 4-6, 13-11. It remains to be seen whether Fritz will be able to keep his ATP Finals hopes alive by eliminating the arguable favorite of the Paris Masters.