Paul Backs Up Australian Open Run With Home Win In Delray Beach

Playing in his first ATP Tour match since his breakthrough run to the Australian Open semi-finals, Tommy Paul continued his red-hot form with a victory at the Delray Beach Open on Thursday. The second seed defeated countryman Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals at the ATP 250.

Both players were part of the United States Davis Cup team that defeated Uzbekistan earlier this month, with both earning road singles victories. With the pair on opposite sides of the net in the U.S., Paul's speed and athleticism helped him advance at his home tournament.

"It’s always nice to be home. I live like 15 minutes away from here," said Paul, who hit seven aces and 14 winners. "It’s nice to play in front of my friends and some of my family here. It’s easy to have my whole team here so it’s always a good time."

While it took the American some time to adjust to the windy conditions in Delray Beach, he wrestled away control of the match by winning five straight games from 3-3 in the opening set. In holding for a 2-0 lead in set two, Paul saved what proved to be the last break point of the match for either man.

Paul won 12 of 16 points at the net in an aggressive display, while Kudla ventured forward just three times, winning one of those points.

Entering this week at a career-high of No. 18 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Paul must advance to the semi-finals to maintain his place in the Top 20. His next goal is to crack the Top 15.

“We’ve been putting in a lot of work here in Delray and in Boca," he said. "I’ve been training a tonne, working on and off court. I feel like I’ve made a lot of jumps in my game so hopefully we can keep a good level going here this week and all the way through the rest of the year.”

Paul will meet Radu Albot in Friday's quarter-finals after the Moldovan's 6-4, 6-4 win against Aleksandar Vukic earlier on Thursday. Paul holds a 1-0 lead in the pair's ATP Head2Head series, with a straight-sets win in Astana in 2020.

In Thursday's evening session, top seed Taylor Fritz opened his campaign with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Ecuador's Emilio Gomez. The American won his first break point of the match to clinch the opening set, then powered through the finish by winning the final five games from 1-3 in the second.

With 11 aces and 26 winners in the match, Fritz advanced to his second quarter-final in as many weeks on home soil. He reached the semis last week in Dallas, losing to eventual champion Wu Yibing. 

The American No. 1 will next face Adrian Mannarino, a 7-5, 6-2 winner against American J.J. Wolf earlier in the evening. The Frenchman also reached the quarters last week in Dallas before running into Wu.

Mannarino owns a 2-1 ATP Head2Head advantage against Fritz, though his two wins came in 2016 (Nottingham) and 2017 (Acapulco). Fritz won their most recent meeting in straight sets last year in Acapulco.