Tommy Paul of the United States beat Leo Borg of Sweden 5-7 6-4 6-1 in a first round match at the Stockholm Open on Tuesday. The match lasted for a little more than two hours.
Leo, who is the son of the legendary Bjorn Borg, is ranked 577th in the world at the moment, but posed a stiff challenge to a much higher-ranked Paul. Paul will take on Mikael Ymer, another Swede, in the second round on Thursday.
On that note, we will take a look at three keys to the match:
Three keys to Tommy Paul’s win over Leo Borg at the Stockholm Open
#1. Borg impressed with his forehand and movement:
Borg’s powerful forehands were impressive in the match. He won a lot of points with the help of his forehand and Paul found it difficult to deal with it in the first and second sets on a fast court.
There were a lot of breaks of serve in the first set. The 19-year-old Swede got an early break and led 3-2, but Paul then broke back and won three consecutive games to go 5-3 up. However, Borg then won four consecutive games to win the set, moving very well and showing exceptional court-coverage. Paul made his job easier by committing double faults on the break points in two consecutive service games of his.
#2. Paul came back well in the second set:
Paul bounced back well in the second set by being more aggressive in his approach and rushing the net frequently. He kept moving Borg towards to the latter’s forehand side which meant that the Swede could not hit his forehand with enough power.
Paul managed to go keep his nose ahead by going a break up in the second set and then managed to hold his serve to win the set and draw level.
#3. Borg could not return very well, but Paul regularly punished his second serve:
Paul started hitting his returns from an advanced position while facing Borg’s second serve from the second set onwards. However, the Swede could not return very well himself and his backhand was also not as powerful as his forehand.
Borg faced ten break points in the match and could only save five of them. He got broken twice in the third set as well and allowed Paul to walk away with the match after offering some stiff resistance initially.
Main Photo from Getty.
