Quarter-Final Bound! Paul Powers Past Bautista Agut At Australian Open

The Americans are out in force in the 2023 Australian Open quarter-finals, and among them is Tommy Paul.

The 25-year-old delivered a rock-solid fourth-round performance Monday at Melbourne Park, where he prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in a clean-hitting matchup against Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Paul was a constant menace to the Spaniard in his return games on Margaret Court Arena. He converted six of 15 break points to maintain the upper hand for much of the match, despite a second-set Bautista Agut revival. Against a player renowned for his ability to regularly hit through opponents, Paul outhit Bautista Agut by 58 winners to 35 to seal his 11th-straight victory against Spanish opponents in three hours and 19 minutes.

Paul takes on Ben Shelton next in Melbourne after the 20-year-old downed J.J. Wolf in five sets to extend his dream Australian Open debut. With Sebastian Korda also into the quarter-finals, this marks the first time since 2000 that three American men have reached the last eight in Melbourne — and the first time at any Slam since the 2005 US Open.

More to follow…