Tommy Paul had never played at Arthur Ashe Stadium and had never reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open.
The fast-rising American ticked both boxes Friday.
Paul’s 6-1, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 third-round victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina kept up the U.S. men’s strong showing at Flushing Meadows this year, and continued his own strong run that had seemed on life support just two days earlier.
The South Jersey-born Paul, who proudly sported a Philadelphia Eagles cap, lost the first two sets against Roman Safiullin on Wednesday, but fought back from such a deficit for the first time in his career.
On Friday, he dominated the first two sets against No. 21 Davidovich Fokina, and shrugged off a shaky third set to close out the match in the fourth.
“If you were to ask me two days ago, down two sets, I would’ve told you the story might be coming to an end. I’m happy to still be here,” the 26-year-old Paul said. “This is the best tournament for Americans to play in. Obviously around the grounds everyone is really stoked and excited about the Americans. Every time I pass one of the TVs here, it’s like ‘Is an American going to win a Slam for the first time [in] 20 years?’
“You see a lot of it. I’m just really excited to play every match. I’m doing things I have never done; never been to the fourth round of the Open, never played on Ashe, never won on Ashe. So it’s exciting for me right now. I’m really looking forward to the next match, and hopefully we can keep it going.”
It would be hard to bet against Paul, for a host of reasons.
The 14th-seeded Paul is playing the best tennis of his career, elevating his volley game to maximize his athleticism.
He even beat Carlos Alcaraz last month at the ATP Masters 1000 Canada, prompting the World No. 1 and defending U.S. Open champ to gush: “He’s certainly a complete player. … He’s one of the best players in the world right now.”
And he’s part the resurgence of U.S. men’s tennis, which is happening slowly but surely. Taylor Fritz is ranked ninth, Francis Tiafoe is 10th and Paul is knocking on the door of the top 10. Paul will face fellow American Ben Shelton next. Tiafoe also moved into the fourth round with a four-set win over Adrian Mannarino on Friday.
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It all signals an American renaissance as the U.S. men seek to end a two-decade Grand Slam drought.
“Absolutely, there is very healthy competition amongst all of us. In no way would I say jealousy between us, but we push each other with results or in practice. We’ll practice with each other a ton and we’ll push each other through practice,” Paul said. “When one of us does super-well in a tournament it’s inspiring to us to go do it ourselves. I’d say, yeah, we all push each other with results.”
Paul also has a good-luck charm. No, not his Philadelphia fit, but a 10-year-old Brooklyn fan named Eddy. He was seated courtside at Louis Armstrong for the comeback against Safiullin, yelling out support and even tips.
Afterward, Paul ran over to him and gave him a shirt, a hug and an invitation back for the match Friday.
And Eddy again made himself heard — from courtside at Ashe Stadium.
“I definitely heard him. I think we got him tickets to our box, but he ended up getting better tickets right on the side of the court,” Paul said with a laugh. “I was definitely hearing him. It was fun. He definitely got louder after I lost the third, which was cool. I went and talked to him a little bit after, but it’s really cool to have him here. I’m hoping he becomes famous or something.”
Paul is getting famous himself.
He was strong from both baselines, hitting 40 winners. Davidovich Fokina had 44 unforced errors, but Paul’s play had a hand in that.
He notched 15 aces, the last one sending him on to face Shelton.
“We know each other’s game pretty well. I’m happy to see him doing well this week. Should be a fun match,” Paul said. “I think everyone is excited about both of us right now. I’m excited for that matchup.”
