MELBOURNE – Thomas Paul went into his first career Grand Slam semi-final with a specific game plan Novak Djokovic In the Australian Open. Makes sense right? You have to approach this type of match in a way that you believe will help you win.
And then, Paul explained, it all fell apart pretty quickly, resulting in a 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 loss to Djokovic, who has won nine of his 21 Grand Slam titles Melbourne Park.
“I mean, he wouldn’t let me do all those things,” said the 25-year-old American, who was born in New Jersey, grew up in North Carolina and now lives in Florida, “because of things he did so well. “
They played under the lights to a packed house at Rod Laver Arena. Djokovic knows these attitudes and circumstances so well, especially in a tournament where he has won 27 straight games and is 19-0 for his career in semifinals and finals. He meets Stefanos Tsitsipas for the title on Sunday.
“I mean, walking on the pitch was cool,” said Paul, the first US man to reach the semifinals at Melbourne Park since Andy Roddick in 2009. “Playing the match and being beaten like that kind of sucked. But I mean it’s great that I’ve seen where I want to be and know how well I have to play if I want to beat people like that. I think it was a good experience.”
Let unseeded Paul explain what his strategy was and what happened:
— “I wanted to serve something and volley. I never served and volleyed once. … When I hit my first serve, I felt like he returned it to the baseline. I was automatically on the defense. For example, when you get a love of 30 in your service games, it’s hard to say, ‘All right, I’m going to serve and volley now.'”
— “Wanted to throw in drop shots. I didn’t get a chance to do any of that because it hit so deep.”
— “Wanted to change the tempo with my slice. Missed my first three slices of the match. I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll start hitting my backhand; I’m not cutting well today.’”
— “Attack on second serve. He definitely surprised me. With big points he went big seconds. At pretty much every point, the average speed on the second serve was a little higher than I expected.”
All that said, Paul made some progress against Djokovic.
Still, he won more of the 23 points that lasted at least nine shots, 14-9.
There were the two break points in the game’s opening game – although Djokovic ended up stopping there.
“It felt like things were slipping away from me very quickly,” Paul said. “It felt like the points were moving very quickly. In between, the time passed very quickly.”
There was the four-game run that turned Paul’s 5-1 deficit into 5-4 in the opening set – although Djokovic then rallied seven straight games and 14 of the remaining 17.
“I was really lucky that I could keep my nerve towards the end of the first set. That was a key,” said Djokovic. “After that, I started swinging through the ball more.”
Paul, ranked 35th, had never advanced past the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament.
His first semi-final appearance at a Major will take him into the top 20 for the first time.
“I want to move up the rankings, you know? It would be nice to end the year in the top 10. I feel like the way I’ve started the year is the right way to do it,” he said. “Of course I have a lot of games to win this year. Hopefully some titles too. I don’t just want to lose in the semifinals. I want my name on some trophies.”
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