Paris [France], May 30 : American tennis star Tommy Paul secured his 200th tour-level win of his career during the ongoing French Open on Friday, as the 12th-seeded player defeated Karen Khachanov to move to his first-ever fourth round of the clay court major.
As per ATP's official website, Tommy defeated Karen by 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3, battling cramps during the fifth set. He delivered some quality shots to become the third active American to reach the milestone, after Taylor Fritz (301) and Frances Tiafoe (225).
This is his best run in Paris, which also included a win during which he overcame a two sets-to-love deficit against Marton Fucsovics during the round two. Now, Paul is up by three spots, reaching number nine in ATP Live Rankings. He has a fine record of 24 wins and eight losses during the ongoing season.
After his win, Paul said, as quoted by the ATP website, "Like a million bucks, I feel pretty good. I love playing in front of you guys, it has been an awesome crowd for my first three matches here, I appreciate all the support. Hopefully, we can keep it going."
"I love this stuff, it is so much fun playing out here, honestly. Not all matches are four hours long, but that was an awesome battle on both ends of the court. We both played well, and that is what it is all about," he added.
After upgrading his record against Karen to 3-0, Paul's next challenge will be the 25th-seeded Australian star Alexei Popyrin, who breezed past Nuno Borges with a 6-4, 7-6(11), 7-6(5) margin.
Also, Lorenzo Musetti moved past Mariano Navone 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to the fourth round, matching his best result at the competition. The eighth-seeded Italian was trailing against Navone initially, but fought back well to win the next three sets well. The 2024 Olympic bronze medalist played fine shots to book a fourth-round clash against 10th seed Holger Rune.
Rune had booked his ticket to the fourth round, rallying back from a poor situation to go past France's Quentin Halys 4-6, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 to secure his fourth successive fourth-round appearance in Paris.
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