Ben Shelton achieves American tennis landmark after latest victory at the Paris Masters

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Ben Shelton has progressed to the Paris Masters quarter-finals following a straight-sets victory against Russian star Andrey Rublev.

The American, who is playing his second tournament after returning from an injury suffered at the US Open, defeated Rublev 7-6, 6-3 on Thursday.

In the quarter-finals, Shelton will face Francisco Cerundolo or Jannik Sinner, who has a golden opportunity to reclaim the world number one spot from Carlos Alcaraz.

By defeating Rublev, Shelton has also qualified for his first ATP Tour Finals.

Shelton, who defeated Flavio Cobolli in the previous round, will be the only American competitor in the quarter-finals following Taylor Fritz’s defeat to Alexander Bublik in the third round.

Ben Shelton is the youngest Paris Masters quarter-finalist since Andy Roddick in 2003

As OptaAce reports, Ben Shelton has become the youngest American to reach a Men’s Singles quarter final at the Paris Masters since Andy Roddick, who reached the same stage in 2003.

Shelton is aged 23 years and 18 days. Roddick achieved the feat while aged 21 years and 58 days.

Remarkably, as OptaAce states, the Paris Masters were played on carpet courts when Roddick made the 2003 Paris Masters quarter-finals.

The tournament was played on carpet courts from 1986 to 2006. Since 2007, the event has been contested on hard courts.

In 2003, Roddick received a first-round bye before defeating Victor Hanescu and Tommy Robredo.

In the quarter-finals, he defeated Jonas Bjorkmann. However, he lost to eventual champion Tim Henman in the semi-finals.

Shelton is hoping to add a second Masters 1000 title to his résumé in Paris, following his triumph at the Canadian Open in August.

Ben Shelton’s exemplary serving performance

Ben Shelton put on a serving clinic against Andrey Rublev.

As per Sofascore, Shelton served 15 aces, while winning 79 per cent of his first serve points.

Astonishingly, Shelton also won an astounding 87 per cent of his second serve points against the Russian.

Moreover, the American faced no break points on his serve and hit no double faults.

If the American can continue serving in this manner, he will be a strong contender for the Paris Open title.