American qualifier Tommy Paul scored the biggest win of his career on Wednesday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, shocking second seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals in Acapulco.
”It meant a lot. I was really excited to get out there and play. He put me under pressure in the first game and then from there, I played well for the rest of the match,” Paul said.
The victory is Paul’s first Top 10 win and another milestone in a breakout season for the 22-year-old. He currently sits at a career-high FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 66 after a strong start to the year that includes his first ATP Tour semi-final in Adelaide.
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Just like in his first-round win on Tuesday against qualifier Jason Jung, Zverev dropped his opening service game and was plagued early on by double faults. The slight advantage was all Paul needed and he cracked a forehand winner on set point to take the early advantage.
Zverev raised his level in the second set and began to assert himself in the baseline rallies. But as the second seed stared down a break point at 4-4, he experienced more serving woes and hit a double fault to hand the break to Paul. The rising American comfortably held serve in the next game to advance after one hour and 29 minutes.
Next up for Paul is fifth seed John Isner, who put on a serving clinic in his 6-3, 7-6(4) win over fellow American Marcos Giron. Isner hammered 28 aces on the day and has hit 50 aces across his first two rounds. He defeated Paul in their lone ATP Head2Head meeting three years ago in Cincinnati.
Kyle Edmund continued his top form by scoring a 6-4, 6-4 upset against fourth-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Brit scored the lone break in each set to advance after one hour and 43 minutes. Auger-Aliassime had won nine of his past 11 matches after runner-up showings this month in Rotterdam (l. to Monfils) and Marseille (l. to Tsitsipas).
Edmund is also enjoying a strong run and extended his winning streak to seven matches. He captured his second ATP Tour title two weeks ago in New York (d. Seppi).
“He’s won a lot of matches and he’s seeing the ball big. Like him, I’m on a decent run as well,” Edmund said. “I liked how I created chances in both sets early. Overall, against a Top 20 player, it was a good result. I’m very pleased."
Awaiting him in the quarter-finals is American Taylor Fritz or Frenchman Ugo Humbert. Edmund faced both men last year, falling to Fritz in Eastbourne and defeating Humbert in Marrakech.
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