DELRAY BEACH, February 16, 2024
Last week’s Dallas Open champion Tommy Paul continued his winning streak on home soil with a remarkable comeback victory on a sunny Thursday afternoon at the Delray Beach Open. Facing #NextGenATP star Alex Michelsen for the first time, the No. 3 seed of the ATP Tour 250 hard-court tournament in Florida secured a hard-fought 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(4) win in an all-US-American second-round encounter.
Paul struck 15 aces, won 81 per cent of his first-service points and broke his rival two times to succeed in exactly three hours of play.
Tommy Prevails 👏@TommyPaul1 extends his match winning streak to 5 with a battling win over Michelsen 5-7 6-4 7-6(4)!@DelrayBeachOpen pic.twitter.com/n9P3wkmoQP
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 15, 2024
“That was a crazy one, a little longer than I would have liked for sure,” Paul said. “He’s a great player, he makes everything super tricky. It’s hard to break his serve, hard to beat him backhand to backhand. He’s definitely improving every week and he’ll be on Tour for a long time for sure.”
The World No. 14 from New Jersey will take on Jordan Thompson in the quarterfinals. The 29-year-old Australian beat US-American qualifier Nicolas Moreno de Alboran 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 41 minutes.
Tiafoe wins battle of former champions
In the evening session, Frances Tiafoe, who lifted his first ATP Tour career trophy in Delray Beach six years ago, booked his spot in the stage of the final eight with a 7-6(5), 7-6(4) win over 2019 champion Radu Albot of Moldova. The second-seeded US-American hit 11 aces and won 52 per cent of the total points played to prevail after one hour and 53 minutes.
“It’s been a while to play on this court. Incredible memories, winning my first title here. I am glad you came out to see me,” Tiafoe said during his post-match on-court interview.
The 26-year-old will next play Italian lucky loser Flavio Cobolli, who fought past local qualifier Zachary Svajda 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-2. The match lasted two hours and 14 minutes.
