The Arthur Ashe Stadium scoreboard stated that Tommy Paul was a loser on Sunday afternoon of the 2023 US Open.
The numbers said Ben Shelton beat Paul in their all-American US Open fourth round matinee headliner in nearly three hours of drama, tension, and brilliant shot-making, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
But the scoreboard only tells the story of this one match on this one day.
It doesn’t tell of all of the other winning days in 2023 for Paul that, when grouped together, make this a winning breakout year for a 26-year-old very much on the rise.
Having started the year No. 32 in the ATP world rankings, Paul is presently at a career high No. 14. He is the third-highest ranked American player behind No. 9 Taylor Fritz and No. 10 Frances Tiafoe.
Paul has a Grand Slam semifinal on his resume after opening the year by reaching the final four at the Australian Open, beating Shelton in the quarterfinals. He made three finals at Aix-en-Provence, Eastbourne and Acapulco, and later, reached the Wimbledon third round.
But the biggest highlight of the season was possibly his upset of world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz last month to make the Toronto semifinals.
“I’m just really excited to play every match," Paul said earlier in the week. "I’m doing things that I have never done. It’s exciting for me right now.”
His fellow American players are noticing too. “He’s got no holes in his game,” said Christopher Eubanks, who made the Wimbledon quarterfinals this summer.
Today’s disappointment will only motivate him even more, pledged Paul.
“Hopefully, I can learn from today's loss and be in the same position next year and win that match. I think, like you said, it was overall a good showing here, but I want to do better next year and better in Australia, better in French. I always want to try and be better. That's the goal,” said Paul, who will be on the U.S. team at the Laver Cup competition later this month in Vancouver.
Paul's just one part of American tennis stars on the rise. For the first time since 2011, there were four homegrown players in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
“When I was on the court. it showed it up on the big screen, the Americans remaining in the tournament,” Paul said. “There's a bunch of Americans right now that are coming up. It's an exciting time. We grew up all together. That was like the Kalamazoo (U.S. national junior championships) through the [round of] 16s, quarterfinals, the people that are here right now, so it's kind of cool.”
Paul turned pro in 2015. It took him several years to begin to make an impression on the tour, breaking into the world Top 50 in 2021.
“I’m pretty happy where I’m at now,” he said. “Obviously, I want to keep moving up in the rankings. But, definitely I would say, maybe not as much as some other people, but I’m a late bloomer for sure.”
