By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, March 13, 2023
Tommy Paul rallied past Hubert Hurkacz 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 setting up a first meeting with Felix Auger-Aliassime for an Indian Wells quarterfinal spot.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
A fast first step and committed closing kick carried Tommy Paul into the Indian Wells fourth round.
No. 17-seeded Paul pressured at the right times fending off Hubert Hurkacz 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a tight test on stadium 2.
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It was Paul's first win over 2021 Miami Open champion Hurkacz as the dynamic American showed all-court skills continuing the best start to a season of his career, improving to 14-4 in 2023.
Quick court coverage and all-court acumen helped Paul become the first American man since Andy Roddick in 2009 to contest the Australian Open semifinals in January. Since then, Paul has reached the Delray Beach quarters and Acapulco final.
After a somewhat sloppy start where Paul was spraying his normally rock-solid two-handed backhand at time, he dug down to beat Hurkacz for the first time. Paul won 18 of 20 trips to net, carving out some creative angle volleys, and denied six of eight break points handing Hurkacz his fifth straight loss to a Top 20 opponent.
The 25-year-old Paul will face Felix Auger-Aliassime for the first time with a quarterfinal spot on the line.
Auger-Aliassime overcome a freak accident early in the match and several missed match points at the end to dispatch 27th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-5.
World No. 10 Auger-Aliassime took a self-inflicted shot on the chin when he accidentally hammered himself hitting a forehand in the opening set. That head shot required a medical timeout for treatment.
The eighth-seeded Canadian toughed it out to beat the Argentinean for the second time this season raising his record to 10-5.
The 22-year-old Auger-Aliassime has made the quarterfinals in five consecutive Masters 1000 appearances and will try to sustain his roll against Paul next.
Today, Paul broke first for a 2-1 lead only to see Hurkacz break right back. Hurkacz drew several backhand errors winning five of the next seven games to snatch a onet-set lead.
Shrugging off an uncharacteristically sloppy end to the opening set, Paul came right back to earn triple break point to start the second.
Though Hurkacz saved all three, Paul worked the Miami Open champion's forehand wing over. Hurkacz bled a forehand wide as Paul pierced serve for the opening break.
It was much cleaner tennis from Paul in the second set, while Hurkacz lost the range for a while as forehand miscues mounted.
Paul powered through a love hold for a 4-0 second-set lead. After just 25 minutes of play, Paul stretched his second-set lead to 5-1.
The Australian Open semifinalist served out the second set at love forcing a decider after 66 minutes.
The eye-popping quickness Paul has around the court pained Hurkacz in the third game of the final set. Bouncing on his toes to return, Paul flicked a skidding backhand pass down the eline for two break points. The powerful Pole saved the first with a biting body serve. Hurkacz dodged a second break-point bullet when Paul had a good look at a diagonal forehand, but missed it wide. Hurkacz held for 2-1.
In the following game, a dynamic Paul saved a couple of break points to even the decider after four games.
When he's playing well, Paul can impart a variety of spin to explore all areas of the court. Digging out a slick lob to start the seventh game, Paul earned a break point when Hurkacz slid a forehand down the line wide. Ninety-eight minutes into the match, Hurkacz blinked slapping his second double fault as Paul broke for 4-3.
Jitters were evident on both sides of the net as Paul erased three break points and Hurkacz saved game points in tense nine-minute eighth game that ended with Hurkacz sending a forehand beyond the baseline. Paul stood up to stress stamping a hard-fought hold for 5-3.
Serving for the fourth round, Paul made a slick full stretch serve-and-volley that would have made his Laver Cup captain, John McEnroe, proud. That eye-popping play helped Paul serve out the win at love.
"That was a highlight for me," Paul told Tennis Channel's Prakash Amritraj afterward. "And I went to the no look."