Round of 16: Paul keeps the dream alive

Could one of the players who seemed furthest from securing a place in Turin at the start of the week ultimately find himself boarding the flight to the ATP Finals? A scenario that looked unlikely just a few days ago is beginning to gather momentum thanks to Tommy Paul’s flawless run through his first three matches in Paris.

After defeating 2022 champion Holger Rune in his opening match and then cruising past Daniel Merida 6-1, 6-1 in just 48 minutes, the American once again displayed impressive precision and composure to end Quentin Halys’ fairytale run. The Frenchman had arrived in the Round of 16 after what he described as a “miraculous” escape against Frances Tiafoe, saving four match points in the decisive tie-break.

Paul, however, proved a step too far, prevailing 7-6(4), 6-4 in 1h35.

'I’m not really thinking about Turin'

As expected, the two excellent servers relied heavily on their biggest weapon throughout an entertaining and closely contested encounter.

When it came to the statistics, however, the American held the edge. Paul won an astonishing 43 of the 45 points played behind his first serve, a success rate of 96%, and saved the only break point he faced all afternoon. “What pleased me most today was my serve,” the winner told ATP Media. “I served really well, I won almost all of the first points on my service games and that was hugely important today. I would have liked to convert more break points, but I converted the most important one!”

Indeed, Paul created eight break-point opportunities throughout the match. The first three were calmly fended off by Halys in an opening set that eventually went to a tie-break. After tie-breaks had smiled upon the Frenchman the previous day, this time the crucial moments belonged to the No.12 seed.

The second set was almost equally tight. Trailing 0-40 in the fourth game, Halys showed tremendous character to hold serve. But the pressure continued to build. Although the Frenchman saved a first match point behind his serve thanks to his 16th ace of the afternoon, he was unable to escape a second time and eventually cracked on the next opportunity. Tommy Paul was simply too strong on Thursday.

Although he does not yet know the identity of his next opponent, with Arthur Rinderknech and Ben Shelton battling it out on Centre Court, the 2022 Paris quarter-finalist now stands just two victories away from securing his place at the ATP Finals. Not that he wants to spend too much time thinking about it. “I’m not really thinking about Turin. I don’t even know who I’m playing next. I take things one day at a time. I’ll just try to prepare as well as possible for my next match and then we’ll see what happens.” Perhaps that is the secret to success.