Ailing Paul claims 'gutsy' 200th win vs. Khachanov

Tommy Paul battled through the pain once more Friday at Roland Garros, where he dug deep to record his 200th tour-level win.

The 12th-seeded American, who has been nursing a lower ab injury this week, overcame Karen Khachanov 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3 to reach the fourth round at the clay-court major for the first time. Paul also battled cramps late in the fifth set, but delivered a barrage of big hitting to become the third active American to secure 200 wins, after Taylor Fritz (301) and Frances Tiafoe (225), who also plays on Friday.

“Like a million bucks, I feel pretty good,” Paul said with a laugh when asked of his physical state. “I love playing in front of you guys, it’s been an awesome crowd for my first three matches here, I appreciate all the support. Hopefully we can keep it going.

“I love this stuff, it’s so much fun playing out here, honestly. Not all matches are four hours long, but that was an awesome battle on both ends of the court. We both played well and that’s what it’s all about.”

With his best run in the French capital, during which he overturned a two-sets-to-love deficit against Marton Fucsovics in the second round, Paul is up three spots to a career-high No. 9 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. He is now 24-8 on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

Having let slip a break lead in the fourth set, Paul appeared visibly hampered during the latter stages of the encounter. Yet the 28-year-old responded with a clinical start to the fifth set, in which he brushed aside any physical issues with a heavy-hitting performance to sail to a 4-0 lead before sealing victory after four hours, seven minutes.

After improving to 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Khachanov, Paul will next play 25th-seeded Australian Alexei Popyrin, who moved past Nuno Borges with a 6-4, 7-6(11), 7-6(5) triumph earlier on Friday.