By Alberto Amalfi | Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Tommy Paul won eight of the last nine games rallying past wild card Leo Borg, son of Hall of Famer Bjorn Borg, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in Stockholm.
Photo credit :Getty
Stockholm fans were on their feet cheering Borg revival.
Nineteen-year-old Leo Borg, son of Hall of Famer Bjorn Borg, waved his arms exhorting fans after taking the opening set today.
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Tommy Paul pressed the mute button on the teenage wild card.
Defending champion Paul streaked through eight of the last nine games rallying by Borg, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 to reach the Stockholm round of 16.
Forty-two years after Bjorn Borg swept John McEnroe to capture the 1980 Stockholm title, the man once known as the Angelic Assassin was among the fans on their feet supporting Leo Borg's opening-set charge.
Deadlocked 4-all in the second set, Paul worked through a hard-fought hold for 5-4 then broke at love to snatch the second set. Finding his groove, Paul won three of the last eight games at love.
While the name Borg is legendary in Stockholm, Paul has enjoyed glory days in the city too.
The eighth-seeded Paul beat Borg, making his 2022 Tour-level debut today, for the second straight Stockholm opener.
It was Paul's sixth straight Stockholm victory and his ninth consecutive opening-round win.
Next up for Paul is another Swede, Mikael Ymer.
Earlier, Ymer converted five of 16 break points fending off Frenchman Quentin Halys 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
No. 5-seeded Alex de Minaur rolled through 10 of the last 11 games befuddling Benjamin Bonzi 6-3, 6-1. De Minaur will face either Florence finalist J.J. Wolf or Alex Molcan for a quarterfinal spot.