American Tommy Paul advanced to the fourth round at the US Open for the first time on Friday when he overcame Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The home favourite, who rallied from two sets down against Roman Safiullin in the first round, produced a dominant display during the opening two sets to take control against an out-of-sorts Spaniard. The 14th seed then recovered from a brief mid-match dip, regaining his level in the fourth set to advance after two hours and 20 minutes.
Paul was consistent from the baseline off both wings against Davidovich Fokina, who struggled to find his usual dynamic game throughout the third-round clash. The Spaniard committed 44 unforced errors compared to 27 from Paul, while the American struck 12 more winners (39-27).
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With his victory, Paul improved to 3-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against the 21st seed. The 26-year-old, who advanced to the semi-finals at the Australian Open earlier this year, will aim to continue his run against Ben Shelton.
Paul is currently 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (2,435 points). The American is trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.
Originally published at ATP Tour
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