WHAT HAPPENED: Tommy Paul and a show court at night in the second round: A match made in US Open heaven.
Last year, the No. 2 American pulled off a thrilling two-sets-to-love comeback on Stadium 17 to advance to the third round. On Thursday, he exhibited some absolutely imperious form in the first two sets of his match against Max Purcell, winning 7-5, 6-0, 1-0 (ret.) after the Australian retired due to injury following the first game of the third.
“It’s unfortunate,” Paul said of Purcell’s retirement in an interview after the match. “The first set was super entertaining tennis. I love the way that he plays. It was great tennis on both sides of the court.”
Purcell’s serve-and-volley style has paid dividends against top players before; he defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first round of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and shocked Casper Ruud en route to a quarterfinal appearance in Cincinnati in 2023.
But the Paul return was crackling early, and before long, the Australian was getting passed at the net—or more frequently, trapped in extended baseline rallies with one of the game’s most in-form baseliners.
After saving multiple break points in the third game, Purcell amped up the aggression on both his serve and forehand and held Paul at bay. Very little separated the pair until Purcell served to take a 6-5 lead. Paul smacked a return winner off a second serve, then hit some incredible passing shots and displayed his trademark speed to break a few points later.
Suddenly, to the delight of the Grandstand crowd, the American’s racquet seemed magnetized to the ball. Paul was here, there, everywhere. At 30-15 in the next game, he played the kind of point that would make Andy Murray (and now Ruud) proud, chasing down every shot, throwing up a high lob, then hitting a backhand passing shot to claim it. There wasn’t much more Purcell could do, and Paul took the first 7-5.
Paul’s unplayable form continued over the course of the entire second set. Through the first four games, Purcell won just four points, while Paul would eventually hit 11 winners and commit zero unforced errors (yes, zero) by set’s end. (Yes, zero.) Purcell ultimately retired after the first game of the third with an injury.
“Obviously I wanted to finish, I was playing really well,” Paul noted with a smile. “I was very happy. I thought I picked up my serve in the second set, I started hitting my forehand very well. It helps when you have a little bit of a lead to work with. But yeah, I was really happy. I love playing on this court.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Paul has become a reliable figure in the late stages of big tournaments recently, reaching the quarterfinals of both Wimbledon and the Paris 2024 Olympics earlier this summer. (He ultimately lost to Carlos Alcaraz at both events, though he did bring home a bronze medal from the latter in men’s doubles with pal Taylor Fritz.) A Round of 16 battle against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner looms. First, he’ll have to get through Canadian Gabriel Diallo, who upset No. 24 seed Arthur Fils earlier in the day. The pair have never faced each other before.
MATCH POINT: Before the retirement, Paul was playing one of his cleanest matches ever: 29 winners against 8 unforced errors.
