WHAT HAPPENED: Two weeks ago, Tommy Paul—the third highest-ranked American in this year’s US Open draw—ended world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz's 14-match winning streak at the ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in Toronto, notching the biggest win of his career.
So it's no surprise that the 26-year-old, who represents a new generation of players maturing and fine-tuning their skills on the ATP tour, bounced onto court wielding an all-court game, equipped with a dominating serve and dynamic air of confidence. He took the match from qualifier Stefano Travaglia of Italy, 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
Paul finished the first set with 7 aces, while Travaglia worked to find his footing. With three close qualifying matches under his belt, it appeared as if Travaglia might’ve reached the end of his energy store. And while he kept up stroke-by-stroke, his defensive positioning for the first two sets was capitalized on by Paul, who took every chance he saw to inch further up the court.
It was not until the end of the second set that Travaglia began to challenge Paul, leading to a break of Paul’s service game at the beginning of the third set. And, after fixedly crawling his way back into the match, Travaglia took Paul by surprise, firing off winners that painted the lines. With a stark silence from the crowd, perhaps processing this momentum shift, Travaglia took the third set, 6-4.
Travaglia broke Paul’s serve once again at the beginning of the fourth set—making clear that the match would not be as routine as previously thought. In the end though, Paul kept a strong head and stuck with what he does best. That break was the last game won by Travaglia, and Paul’s 46 total winners against Travaglia’s 22—more than double—gave him enough of an edge to shut Travaglia’s run down.
“When you’re playing at a high level, you always have to expect [your opponent] to step up his level in the beginning of the second or third,” Paul said in his post-match interview. “You have to be ready for those little changes in the match… And things did kind of slip away in the third. So, in the fourth, I really had to turn it on.”
WHAT IT MEANS: With No. 4 seed Holger Rune now out of the draw, Paul’s US Open potential is vast. He is the highest-ranked player in his section of the men’s draw, and, if all goes well, he could be set to meet No. 10 seed and fellow American, Frances Tiafoe, or No. 5 seed, Norwegian Casper Ruud—who ended his US Open chances last year—for an electric quarterfinal matchup.
MATCH POINT: Although he has eyes on cementing himself in the elite Top 10 of the tour, Paul has not had much success at the US Open in previous years. His best run ended last year in a Round 3 match against eventual finalist, Ruud, by way of a blowout fifth set.
But, by the looks of his game as of late—and markedly this month—Paul seems ready for a change. He achieved his highest ranking this month, and accomplished some telling upsets in 2022: No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal in Paris, No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev in Indian Wells, and No. 4 seed Alcaraz in Montreal. And, of course, Alcaraz in Toronto in 2023. Surely, Paul is eager to display his progress on his home soil this year.
While reflecting on how his experience of the US Open has gotten less nerve-wracking with each win, Paul stated, “After my first-round win last year, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. I feel the same way this year. And the support this year is on another level. I’ve never had a group [of people] follow me all the way back from the court to Ashe, cheering for me the whole way. That was a first for me. It’s exciting to see how excited the fans are for American tennis.”
