MELBOURNE, Australia — Tommy Paul is the primary American man since Andy Roddick in 2009 to make the Australian Open semifinals. He’s the lone American left in both singles draw. However he is nonetheless managing to fly beneath the radar at this event.
So low is Paul flying, that simply minutes after he punched his ticket into the final 4 — defeating Australian Open debutant Ben Shelton in 4 entertaining units on Rod Laver Enviornment — one of many first questions requested by on-court interviewer John Fitzgerald was about his opponent’s magical run.
It is not an unfair query to ask — it was Shelton’s second main look ever, and his first abroad journey outdoors america. To make a Grand Slam quarterfinal is a large achievement.
Nevertheless it was additionally Paul’s first time as a Slam quarterfinalist.
For the world No. 35, it was symbolic of the fortnight he is had — quietly toiling away on the skin courts and banking wins. And now Paul will face nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic on Friday.
“I imply, I have been on the skin courts grinding till the spherical of 16,” he stated, smiling in his press convention. “[I] have not had too many, like, big-name matchups.”
The eye on the lads’s facet of the draw has been on Rafael Nadal’s early exit, Djokovic’s hamstring issues, and, extra not too long ago, Karen Khachanov’s messages of assist for an embattled area within the Caucuses. Even when it comes to American tales, Paul has been properly down the pecking order.
However for Paul, it has been a exceptional event contemplating he made only one semifinal at tour stage final yr, at a 250-level occasion in Delray Seaside by which he banked wins over the world No. 267 and 151 en-route to the final 4.
Paul stated he sees these previous two weeks as a chance, not just for himself, however for the American males who for twenty years have been informed they should step up and fill the hole after Roddick received the US Open in 2003 — the final time an American man received a Grand Slam.
“Since I used to be younger, that is all we have been listening to, since like 14 years previous,” Paul stated of the drought.
“We had the posters of him when he received in his Reebok match. I used to be truly salty when he switched to Lacoste. I used to be like, ‘he is not going to win one other Slam now’. I believed it was the outfits.”
And whereas Paul’s prediction was true, in all probability no half because of the sponsor change, a semifinal is not the top aim for him or the remainder of the “next-gen” American males, after Frances Tiafoe made the final 4 of the US Open final yr.
“The coaches have been telling us, ‘We want new Individuals, we want new Individuals’,” he stated.
“It is form of ingrained in my head. All of us need to carry out … I imply, I believe all of us need it fairly unhealthy for ourselves, however we wish it for U.S. tennis, too.”
No matter what occurs in his subsequent match towards Djokovic, Paul will rise into the highest 20 within the ATP rankings. He is additionally assured a large payday of at the least $621,000.
And the narrative will deservedly shift to him, the 25-year-old from New Jersey with a rock-solid sport — and the primary American man to make the semifinals in Melbourne in 14 years.