If Ben Shelton wants to win a second ATP Masters 1000 event in 2025, he’ll have to earn it.
Shelton got the roughest draw among the top players for the Paris Rolex Masters, based on the average world ranking of likely opponents.
Shelton, the No. 5 seed and the winner of the ATP 1000 event in Canada this summer, faces a tricky first match against either world No. 22 Flavio Cobolli or No. 31 Tomas Machac. Shelton beat Cobolli in a tense match en route to his victory in Canada in August.
Who got the easiest and toughest draws for the Paris Masters?
Next would be a likely round of 16 matchup against No. 12 seed Andrey Rublev. All of that just to get to a likely quarterfinal matchup against world No. 2 Jannik Sinner. And then he'd have to win two more matches to win the tournament.
The 56-player event gets underway Oct. 27 in France’s capital. Alexander Zverev, who got one of the more favorable draws, is the defending champion. World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz is the top seed.
Easiest draw for a top seed
No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz got as good a draw as could be expected for anyone not named Sinner or Alcaraz. Fritz first faces either a qualifier or 68th-ranked wild card Terence Atmane. It’s by far the most favorable pairing among the eight top seeds who received first-round byes.
Toughest draw overall
No. 54 Benjamin Bonzi was one of the last players into the field without having to qualify. Based on his draw, he might be one of the first players eliminated. He faces No. 10 seed Karen Khachanov in the first round.
If he pulls an upset, he’ll face a former top 10 opponent in Denis Shapovalov or a likely future top 10 performer in Joao Fonseca. After that, the likely foes would be nothing but players currently ranked in the top 10.
Best opportunity for an unseeded player
No one on the ATP Tour deserves a break more than No. 37 Grigor Dimitrov, who had to default with a pectoral injury while leading eventual Wimbledon champion Sinner by two sets in the fourth round at the All-England Club this summer. He may have gotten one in the form of a favorable draw for his return to the tour at this event.
Dimitrov starts his comeback event against big-serving but slumping Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The likely opponent in round 2 is No. 11 seed Daniil Medvedev, another player who has been inconsistent in 2025. Dimitrov would avoid a match against any of the top three players until the final three rounds.