After a breakthrough 2023 season, in which he reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and a career-high ranking of No. 12, Tommy Paul had big goals for himself in the new year — starting with winning more ATP titles.
On Sunday, the 26-year-old did just that by claiming the Dallas Open trophy with an impressive 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3 victory over Marcos Giron in the first All-American ATP final since 2022. It was the second ATP title of Paul’s career and first since 2021.
“That was a pretty unbelievable match,” Paul said. “Best final I’ve ever played.”
It marked the end of a dominant week for Paul. He didn’t drop a set heading into the final and defeated Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals Saturday. Paul is now back up to No. 14 in the rankings and is the second-highest-ranked American man behind Taylor Fritz.
In addition to his new trophy and the rankings boost, Paul also was awarded a custom belt buckle by the tournament. When in Texas, right?
Paul’s girlfriend, Paige Lorenze, later posted a video to her Instagram story of Paul, who is from New Jersey, wearing the belt buckle — and a cowboy hat, jeans and boots — at the airport with the text: “Wins one tournament in Texas.”
Here’s what else you might have missed from around the tennis world last week:
Back to winning for Rybakina
While she didn’t get a belt buckle for her efforts, Elena Rybakina continued her blistering-hot season by winning her second trophy of the year at the Abu Dhabi Open on Sunday.
After defeating Danielle Collins, Cristina Bucsa and Liudmila Samsonova throughout the week, Rybakina wasted no time in the final — taking the opening set in just 25 minutes — and defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4. It marked her seventh career WTA title. She is now 11-2 on the season — the second-most in the WTA, behind only Jelena Ostapenko and tied with Aryna Sabalenka.
Another trophy for the cabinet 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Top seed Elena Rybakina collects her second title of the season!#MubadalaAbuDhabiOpen pic.twitter.com/5TcAzMre6B
— wta (@WTA) February 11, 2024
After a dominant performance in Brisbane to open the year (including a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Sabalenka, the eventual Australian Open champion, in the final), Rybakina fell in the second round in Melbourne to Anna Blinkova following the longest tiebreak in a major 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (20). Despite the devastating early exit from the year’s first Slam, it seems Rybakina has moved on and is back to winning.
“I was…
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