Stockholm Open: American Tommy Paul wins 1st ATP title
Tommy Paul won the first ATP Tour title of his career, beating Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to capture the Stockholm Open on Saturday.
The American player concluded the week of his life as a professional โ during which he beat Andy Murray and compatriots Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe โ by closing into the net on the back of a big first serve and hitting a winner on his third championship point.
Paul โ wearing his cap back to front โ only won two of his 12 break points against the defending champion, the big one coming at 4-4 in the third set when, at 0-40, he stretched to send a backhand down the line that Shapovalov of Canada couldnโt return at the net.
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โIt took my best tennis to beat Denis,โ Paul said. โItโs the most fun Iโve had playing a tennis tournament.โ
The No. 52-ranked Paul is assured of breaking into the worldโs top 50 after this week. He won the boysโ singles title at the French Open in 2015.
โIt was just a matter of time when he got a week like this,โ said Shapovalov, who was defending the title he won in 2019.
The 2020 event was canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak.