Jannik Sinner still admits that he is not focusing on retaining the number one ranking spot back from Carlos Alcaraz after he prolonged his incredible indoor hardcourt win streak with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ben Shelton.

Sinner battled through pain in the early stages before blowing the world number seven away with some stunning tennis. This has helped him reach the Paris Masters semi-final stage for the first time, with a clash against Alexander Zverev on the horizon. The German will be looking for revenge over the four-time Grand Slam champion after their final clash in the Vienna Open, where Sinner pegged back the world number three from a one-set deficit to lift the title.

It is 24 indoor hardcourt wins and counting for Sinner, who is looking for a first title in Paris. His best result previously was in 2023 where he reached the third round before pulling out. After not featuring last year, the 24-year-old is determined to tick off yet another Masters 1000 title. However, that is not the only thing he is closing in on, with the race for the number one ranking firmly on. This is despite Sinner ruling this prospect out in 2025.

With Carlos Alcaraz's surprise opening match setback to former Wimbledon semi-finalist Cameron Norrie, he has failed to add many points to his overall tally. This is the complete opposite for Sinner, who after defending barely anything from last year is rapidly closing the Spaniard down. If he overcomes Zverev, Sinner will sit on 11,150 points, with Alcaraz just 100 ahead. A fifth title in 2025 will see him leapfrog Alcaraz to claim the top spot for the first time since the US Open final defeat. Despite this, it will only be for a very short period of time with his ranking points earned from the ATP Finals coming swiftly off, seeing Alcaraz once again go number one.

"Honestly, at the moment I’m not thinking about the ranking, it’s all a consequence of how I’m playing," Sinner said to Sky Sports. "We go day by day, every day you have very difficult challenges coming up, today was a very tough one, so I’m very happy to come through and whatever comes out comes out. At the end of the year, making the semis here in Paris means a lot. It’s been a very long season with some great results and I never take these results for granted. I’m happy to be in the situation I am and tomorrow is an important day, but I’m looking forward to it."

While the number one spot is not on Sinner's mind, the Paris Masters title is very much so. He was pleased with his reaction after a shaky start against the American who looked like he was going to be a challenge for Sinner. However, Sinner's class prevailed, and he was able to turn up the gears and put Shelton in his place.

"[I’m] very happy, it was a very, very tough match," Sinner said. "At times I don’t have a lot of control because of his incredible serving but today I felt I was returning very well. From the back of the court, I played very solid, very aggressive, so very happy about today’s match and now let’s see what’s coming. Tomorrow’s going to be, in any case, a very physical match, so let’s see how I’m going to feel, but it was a great day."

If he gets the better of Zverev, a final clash against either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Alexander Bublik is on the cards. Both players have had previous meetings against Sinner, most notably at the US Open where they were both routed.