Following his remarkable five set win over Grigor Dimitrov in the second round of the Australian Open, 22-year-old American Tommy Paul is finally maximiszng the potential he showcased as a teenager. His best career win and surging form suggests that 2020 will be a big year for Paul. The match, which ended 6-4 7-6(8) 3-6 6-7(3) 7-6(3), lasted over four hours and will go down as one of the best matches of the tournament.
Tommy Paul Wins Battle Against Dimitrov
Paul was in blistering form in the opening two sets. However, Dimitrov proved once again that no deficit is too large for him to overcome, as he clawed his way back to force a fifth set. Within the fifth set, it seemed as if Paul had been fully drained of his physical energy while Dimitrov was playing like he had just stepped on the court, with the Bulgarian leading for the majority and serving for the match at 5-4. From nowhere, however, Paul surged back into the match, breaking Dimitrov and fighting through the exhaustion to easily win the fifth set super-tiebreak. “I’ve never been a part of something like that, honestly,” said Paul following the match, emphasizing the grueling nature of the encounter and the fact that it was his first ever five set win in a Grand Slam.
Career Changing Win?
2019 was a year in which Tommy Paul was able to resurrect his languishing young career through his dominant form on the Challenger Tour which included three titles. However, this year, due to his rising ranking, he has the opportunity to do the same on the ATP circuit. There have been opportunities in the past in which Paul seemed destined to capitalize on to further his career, such as his run to the quarterfinals of the Citi Open in Washington in 2017 as a teenager, as well as his valiant four set defeat to Dominic Thiem in the first round of Roland Garros in 2019. However, his victory symbolizes a clear turning point.
Although his next opponent, Marton Fucsovics, has shown tremendous form in Melbourne himself by defeating two young stars in Denis Shapovalov and Jannik Sinner, Paul has a legitimate opportunity to advance further and possibly face Roger Federer in the fourth round. Fucsovics and potentially Federer may be in his short term sights. However, he likely also has plans to enter the Top 50 in 2020, and he has the game to do it. Despite not currently having the same amount of attention as other young Americans such as Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka and Frances Tiafoe, his win today and the trajectory of his career leads to the conclusion that it is just a matter of time before Tommy Paul is also a household name.
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