Tommy Paul becomes first American man since Andre Agassi in 2003 to reach French Open quarterfinals

CNN

2 days ago

Tommy Paul became the first American man since Andre Agassi in 2003 to reach the quarterfinals of the French Open after he beat Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday.
The 28-year-old got off to a shaky start when his serve was broken in the very first game, but he recovered well, breaking back instantly before breaking again later in the set to take a 5-3 lead.
Popyrin had the perfect chance to get back on track straight away when he went 0-40 up in the next game, only for Paul to win three points in a row, and then take the set at the third time of asking.
Winning crucial points in this fashion was a feature of the match; in total, the American defended nine out of the 10 break points he faced.
'You've kind of got to tell yourself, you're still supposed to hold,' Paul said on court after the match. 'Even if you're down 0-40, you can come back and hold your advantage every single one of those points.
'He got me first game of the match, actually, on break. And then, from that point on, I kind of came up a little clutch on those break points, and that was everything today.'
From that point onward, Paul had too much for Popyrin, breaking him twice in the second set and once in the third to round out an ultimately comfortable victory. After each of his last two matches – against Karen Khachanov and Márton Fucsovics – went to five sets, Paul was pleased he would be able to get some rest.
'Feeling pretty good,' he said. 'Obviously, it helps a lot when you play in under two hours, in a three-out-of-five set match. You like to start the tournament like that, getting a couple of straight-sets wins, but to get one today was special for me.'
Later on Sunday afternoon, the USA's Ben Shelton will take on defending champion Carlos Alcaraz to see who will face Paul in the quarterfinals. Fellow American Frances Tiafoe is also in action on Sunday, playing Daniel Altmaier for a spot in the quarterfinals.
No American man has progressed beyond that stage since Agassi lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires in 1999.
There was more American success on Saturday, this time in the women's draw, as Coco Gauff defeated Marie Bouzková 6-1, 7-6 (3) to advance to the fourth round.
Her match against Ekaterina Alexandrova will be her seventh consecutive fourth-round match at a grand slam, making her the youngest American woman to reach this milestone since Venus Williams in 1999.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic recorded his 99th win at Roland Garros as he coasted to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over qualifier Filip Misolic.
The 24-time grand slam winner was utterly dominant throughout, facing just one break point all game.
Like Djokovic, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner cruised through his third round match too, taking just 94 minutes to defeat Jiří Lehečka 6-0, 6-1, 6-2.