Fourteenth-seeded Tommy Paul punched his ticket to the fourth round at the U.S. Open for the first time with a 6-1, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Friday in New York.
The convincing victory was a welcome one for Paul, who was pushed to the limit on Wednesday before recording his first career comeback from two sets down in a second-round victory over Roman Safiullin of Russia.
On Friday, Paul benefited from a 40-27 edge in winners as well as 44 unforced errors from Davidovich Fokina to end the match in two hours and 20 minutes. The 26-year-old finished the match with one of his 15 aces to improve to 3-0 all-time versus the Spaniard.
Paul will square off against Ben Shelton in the next round after Shelton defeated Aslan Karatsev of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Paul defeated Shelton in an all-American clash to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open on Jan. 25.
–Field Level Media
