PARIS (AP) — Ben Shelton reached the Paris Masters final when he rallied from a break down in the deciding set to beat Luca Van Assche 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday.
The third-seeded American looked in trouble when the unseeded Frenchman broke his serve for a 3-1 lead in the third set.
But the U.S. Open runner-up responded by winning the next four games to lead 5-3.
“I know there is always going to be some little chance I can execute,” Shelton said. “If I can be brave and keep winning my serve and stick with the guy, I feel there is a small window.”
After Van Assche held under pressure, Shelton served out the match to move closer to his fifth title of the year and eighth overall. Shelton is on course for a third Masters title having twice won the Montreal title.
He faces the winner of Saturday's late semifinal between seven-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and three-time major runner-up Casper Ruud of Norway. The second-seeded Alcaraz saved two match points on Friday.
Missed opportunity
Van Assche’s only career title came this year on outdoor clay at Estoril in Portugal.
He was appearing in his first Masters semifinal and edged a tight first set. Shelton tied the match by completing a love hold with a sharp backhand volley at the net.
Van Assche broke for a 3-1 lead when he returned Shelton's looping serve with a whipped forehand pass down the line.
But Shelton broke straight back, held to love for 3-3 and then broke again as Van Assche appeared to flag physically. Shelton cracked a smile when his 19th ace of the match made it 5-3.
“I made a significant amount of forehand unforced errors in the first set and, really, my goal after that was to cut out those unforced errors (and) use the speed of the court to my advantage,” Shelton said. “I really found a great rhythm."
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Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press