Tommy Paul Continues American Surge in Australia, Defeating Bautista Augut to Reach Maiden Major Quarterfinal
The Americans have three quarterfinalists at a Slam for the first time in 18 years. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday January 23, 2023
The American men continue to shine at the 2023 Australian Open.
Tommy Paul, 25, defeated 24th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 to join Sebastian Korda and Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals in Melbourne, making it three quarterfinalists at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2005 US Open (Agassi, Blake, Ginepri and three quarterfinalists at the Australian Open for the first time since 2000 (Agassi, Sampras, Woodruff).
Paul, making his 14th Grand Slam appearance, will face compatriot Ben Shelton for a spot in the semifinal.
There will be TEN American men in the top 50 come Monday
Taylor Fritz, age 25
Frances Tiafoe, 25
Sebastian Korda, 22
Tommy Paul, 25
Jenson Brooksby, 22
John Isner, 37
Ben Shelton, 20
J.J. Wolf, 24
Reilly Opelka, 24
Brandon Nakashima 21#getty pic.twitter.com/tKcMqx3ZQO— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) January 23, 2023
Shelton, 20, defeated JJ Wolf 6-7(5) 6-2 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 6-2 on Monday to reach the quarterfinals on his second Slam appearance.
Korda, 22, who upset two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the third round and 10th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz in five sets in the round of 16, is playing his ninth main draw at the majors.
The Americans are making a strong push up the ATP rankings, and will have ten players inside the ATP’s Top-50 when the new rankings are released on the Monday after the Australian Open.
“I think it's going to be awesome, especially when the tournaments go back to the States, having a lot of Americans seeded and a lot of rivalries like that I think will be really good to push each other, especially for the American fans, and even for us when we are overseas having guys to train with and push with is really good,” Wold told reporters on Monday. “It's good to feel like we've kind of got a team out here.”
An American has not won a major singles title since Andy Roddick triumphed at the 2003 US Open.
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