MELBOURNE, Australia — Tommy Paul reached his first Grand Slam semifinal and ended the surprising run of Ben Shelton by winning their all-American matchup on the Australian Open 7-6 (6), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 on Wednesday.
Paul, a 25-year-old from Recent Jersey, is the primary man from his country to make it to the ultimate 4 at Melbourne Park since Andy Roddick in 2009. Roddick was also the last man from the U.S. to win a Grand Slam singles championship, on the U.S. Open 20 years ago.
Tommy Paul rips a forehand during his four-set Australian Open quarterfinal victory over fellow American Ben Shelton. Getty Images
Ben Shelton belts a backhand during his four-set loss to fellow American Tommy Paul.Getty Images
The Thirty fifth-ranked Paul was a star as a junior, taking the 2015 title on the French Open and attending to the ultimate at Flushing Meadows that yr. As a professional, he owns one tour-level title, at Stockholm in 2021 and, until this week, had made it so far as the fourth round at only one Grand Slam tournament — at Wimbledon a yr ago.
His semifinal opponent might be 21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic or No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev. Djokovic entered their match on Wednesday night with a 43-10 profession record in major quarterfinals; Rublev’s mark at that stage was 0-6.
The opposite men’s semifinal Friday is No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas against No. 18 Karen Khachanov.
