Tommy Paul has finally sunk his teeth into a Grand Slam main draw. Before taking out Leonardo Mayer on Monday, the 22-year-old Paul had never won a main draw match at a major.
On Wednesday, Paul went one round further by upsetting world No. 20-ranked Grigor Dimitrov in a fifth-set tiebreak for the biggest win of his career. The world No. 80 will now face Marton Fucsovics for a spot in the fourth round.
After winning the junior French Open in 2015, many expected Paul to inflict immediate damage on the ATP tour. But neither his body nor his mind were quite ready for the big stage. The 22-year-old dealt with a myriad of injuries including to his back, elbow and knee.
“Health is the biggest thing for Tommy,” his friend and former coach T.J. Pura told Baseline. “He believes he can beat anyone, it’s just a question of whether his body will hold up. His emotional maturity has definitely increased. He’s not letting individual results affect him, he keeps moving forward.”
One of the reasons behind his string of good health this past year stems from an increase in professionalism.