PARIS, Nov 6 - World number four Ben Shelton battled past fellow American Tommy Paul 6-4 4-6 6-3 on Friday to reach the Paris Masters semi-finals.

• Neither player had a break point in a tight first set until US Open finalist Shelton earned two at 5-4 up courtesy of two Paul double faults

• He clinched it on the second one, firing a return winner down the line but was broken back in the very first game of the second set. That was enough for Paul to level the contest and force a decider

• Shelton could not convert an early break point to go 2-0 up in the third set but kept up the pressure, breaking Paul before moving 4-1 clear

• The third seed will now play the winner of the other quarter-final between France's Luca van Assche and Australian Rinky Hijikata for a spot in the final REUTERS