Ben Shelton made his return from injury earlier this month with two clear objectives: to confirm his ATP Finals qualification and to regain much-needed form and momentum ahead of his first-ever trip to Turin. Unfortunately, he has not been able to make meaningful progress in either area so far.
Since returning from his injury break, Shelton has lost two of his three matches, falling to David Goffin at the Shanghai Masters and Jaume Munar in Basel last week. Even in the one match he did win, he was fortunate to escape, as his opponent Kamil Majchrzak squandered multiple opportunities to close it out in Basel.
Shelton needs a few more wins to avoid any pressure in the race to Turin, but whether he can achieve that this week remains uncertain. Along with his current poor form and lack of match fitness, his record at the Paris Masters is also discouraging, having lost in the first round on debut in 2023 and in the second round last year.
Flavio Cobolli produced an impressive debut performance at the Paris Masters, cruising past Tomas Machac 6-1, 6-4 to reach the second round. Interestingly, the same pattern occurred last week in Vienna, where he also opened his campaign with a straight-set win over Machac before facing a top-10 opponent in the second round, falling to Jannik Sinner 2-6, 6-7.
The Italian, despite making significant progress on the main tour in a short span, is still searching for his first top-10 win in a completed match and will hope to end that wait in Paris on Tuesday. So far, he has played 13 completed matches against top-10 opponents and lost them all, though recent performances suggest clear improvement. He has started to compete much more closely in these encounters, including a good battle with Jannik Sinner in Vienna just a few days ago.
Head-to-head: Tied at 2-2. Flavio Cobolli has previously pushed Ben Shelton hard and even beaten him when the American was in top form and playing on familiar North American hard courts. Considering Shelton’s current vulnerability and the slower indoor conditions in Paris, this looks like a decent opportunity for Cobolli to finally secure the elusive top-10 win he has been chasing.
