The 12th seed Tommy Pual will compete in his second Australian Open quarter-final within three years! The American faced tired Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the fourth round and scored a dominant 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory in an hour and 27 minutes.
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The Spaniard spent over nine hours on the court against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jakub Mensik, earning five-setter triumphs but saving nothing in the tank for the fourth-round duel at Margaret Court Arena. Tommy took charge on serve and return.
The 12th seed lost 17 points on serve and denied all three break points, mounting the pressure on the other side. Alejandro had nothing in his legs to challenge those numbers. The Spaniard dropped 57% of the points in his games and suffered seven breaks from 13 chances offered to his opponent.
Paul tamed his strokes nicely and hit 25 winners and 12 unforced errors. He forged a massive 60-30 lead in the shortest rallies up to four strokes and controlled the scoreboard from start to finish. The American grabbed a break in the second game of the match after a lucky net cord winner.
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He held at love in the next one with a volley winner for 3-0 and defended a break point two games later. Tommy landed a forehand crosscourt winner in the sixth game for break points and converted the first after Alejandro's wayward backhand.
The 12th seed served for the opener at 5-1 and landed an ace for a hold at 15, wrapping up the first part of the duel in 22 minutes! The Spaniard slipped at one point and injured his right hip, calling for a medical timeout ahead of set number two.
His condition did not improve, as Tommy dominated again to mirror the scoreboard ofthe first set. Davidovich Fokina netted a backhand in the first game and fell behind. He struggled with his movement and experienced another break in game three, pushing his opponent 3-0 up.
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The American served well in games four and six, building a 5-1 advantage. He made another push on the return in game seven, landing a forehand winner for a break at love and opening a 6-1, 6-1 gap in 49 minutes. Alejandro lost serve again in the second game of the second set.
He saved a break point in game four and created two break chances in the next one from 0-40! Paul denied them and held for 4-1. The Spaniard wasted game points in game six and netted a backhand right after the serve to loseserve and fall 5-1 behind.
Tommy served for the win in game seven and earned match points with a forehand crosscourt winner. The American seized the first with a service winner, sailing into the quarter-final.
