Tommy Paul, seeded 14th at this year’s US Open, arrived in New York with an air of uncertainty over his fitness and form. The third highest ranked American behind Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton forms a formidable group of Americans in the top 20. However unlike Fritz and Shelton both of whom are looking strong to go deep this week, Paul will have to dig very deep if he’s to go into the second week.
Paul had a solid first half of the season with a quarterfinal showing at the Australian Open and backed that up with a career best showing at the French Open where he again reached the last eight. It is from that quarterfinal loss to Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets in Paris where Paul’s season started to go wrong.
An abdominal problem that impacted his performance in the last eight, was followed by a foot injury at Wimbledon that led to a second-round exit at SW19. He took a month off, returning in Cincinnati but didn’t look close to match fit as he lost in the second round to Adrian Mannarino.
Clearly then, Paul did not enter the US Open with the best preparation but the chance to play home Slam can be motivation enough for a lot of players ot play through the pain or to dig deep and find some form. Paul might be an example of that, having made a very positive start in New York by beating Elmer Moller in straight sets 6-3 6-3 6-1. It was a perforrmance that suggested the best thing right now for Paul is to take it match by match and not look too far ahead as he looks to get back into to his best.
Paul has a pretty manageable draw till the fourth round. He faces unseeded Nuno Borges in the second round though he will have to be at his best against Alexander Bublik in a potential third-round clash. Indeed, Bublik has been in form on the clay this year and looked very sharp in beating Marin Cilic in the first round, so the match up with Paul may make for some great viewing.
If Paul manages to scrape by through to the fourth round, a blockbuster clash with Jannik Sinner will likely be on the cards. Paul has not had much success against the world #1 and that may well be a bridge too far for Paul to turn around here in Flushing Meadows. But given Paul’s trouble with injuries recently, a fourth-round showing may not be such a bad result for the American.
Main photo credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
