American Tommy Paul reaches Aussie Open quarterfinals

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Tommy Paul ended Alejandro Davidovich Fokina's run of comebacks at the Australian Open and reached his third Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory on Sunday.

Paul, an American seeded 12th at Melbourne Park, needed less than 1 1/2 hours to finish off a physically diminished opponent, who sought help from a trainer. There was no turnaround this time for the 66th-ranked Davidovich Fokina, who had won each of his last two matches despite dropping the first two sets in both.

“What he did is unreal the past couple matches. ... To do it twice in a row is amazing,” Paul said.

But Paul won nearly twice as many points as his Spanish rival, 85 to 43.

Paul's best showing at any Grand Slam tournament was getting to the semifinals at the Australian Open in 2023. He will try to repeat that by getting past either No. 2 Alexander Zverev, a two-time runner-up at majors, or No. 14 Ugo Humbert next.

Paul was one of four American men to reach the fourth round in Melbourne. No. 21 Ben Shelton, qualifier Learner Tien and Alex Michelsen will try to join him in the quarterfinals when they play fourth-round matches on Monday.

Paul was born in New Jersey and grew up in North Carolina.

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