MELBOURNE: Tommy Paul dropped just three games to surge into his third Grand Slam quarter-final with a thumping of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Australian Open on Sunday.
The American 12th seed was simply too good for the 66th-ranked Spaniard on a scorching hot Melbourne day, cruising home 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 on Margaret Court Arena.
The 27-year-old will meet either German second seed Alexander Zverev or French 14th seed Ugo Humbert for a place in the last four.
The opening Grand Slam of the year has been by far Paul’s most successful during his career, with a 15-5 win-loss record in his six tournaments.
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His best Slam result came in Melbourne when he powered to the semi-finals in 2023 – the first American man to do so since Andy Roddick in 2009.
He beat Davidovich Fokina along the way that year too before being ousted by Novak Djokovic.
“I’m always happy to be back in Australia and to be in the quarter-finals again. It’s amazing,” said Paul, who won three titles in 2024, at Dallas, Queen’s and Stockholm.
“This court is where I came through to my first quarter-final ever, and now my second one here in Australia on this court.
“So great memories on this court.”
Davidovich Fokina was coming off two gruelling five-setters, including rallying from two sets down in his third-round clash, and he was lacklustre in the opening set.
Paul broke immediately then won 87 percent on his own first serve to barely give the Spaniard a look in on his way to the first set in just 22 minutes.
Davidovich Fokina needed a medical timeout at the changeover for what appeared to be a right hip problem and never got back into the match.
Paul broke twice for 4-0 in the second set and it was a similar story in the third as he raced to the win in just 1hr 27mins.
“It’s not easy to do once and to do it twice in a row,” he said of the Spaniard going through two five-set matches.
“I mean, he definitely deserves a round of applause and respect from me, for sure, for staying out here today.”
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