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.
