Tommy Paul eliminates Ben Shelton in 4 sets and joins the last four of the Australian Open, he will play Djokovic or Rublev

Tommy Paul is finally a Grand Slam semi-finalist. Great hope of American tennis during his transition from juniors to the professional circuit less than a decade ago, the player from New Jersey has finally put everything together in a big tournament to go very far. Opposed to his compatriot, and revelation of the tournament, Ben Shelton, in the quarter-finals, Paul dominated this particular duel in an authoritarian manner. It took him four sets, and 3h06 of play on the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, to get rid of the brilliant left-hander (7-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4). He awaits the winner of the last quarter between Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev.

The scoreline didn’t exactly reflect the storyline of the game. Tommy Paul largely dominated this match and the loss of the third act had more to do with the accident than anything else. Despite all his good will, and his positive temperament, Shelton never made the opposing house tremble, even when he went for the forceps for the 3rd straight set. Proof that he did not really doubt his elder: he conceded an entry break during the 4th round and was never able to get back on track. Paul never seemed worried either. Witness this lunar sequence where he asked his coach where Shelton was going to serve on a double break ball. Bet lost by the technician, which made the two players laugh.

Cursed backhand foul

The last set was an exact copy of the third (at least for three quarters) and the second where Paul was the master of the debates. Stronger from the baseline to direct the exchange, especially with his backhand, excellent for covering the ground, regular on serve: the 25-year-old had sharpened all his weapons for this 100% United States clash. His main accomplishment was reading Shelton’s powerful serve well. If he initially had difficulties in this sector, he succeeded in concluding the inaugural tie-break, before putting on another layer.

The gain of this first set was very important. He conditioned the fate of this match mentally. With perfect equality, solid behind their engagements, the two Americans offered a game of life-size chess to the public of the Rod Laver Arena. They were imperial until 6-6, 6-6 in the decisive game. It was on this point played on the service of Shelton that everything changed. The length found in the forehand crossed by Paul made the kid crack on the backhand.

A learning error of sorts. But a mistake that broke the legs and the head of the US prodigy. His last stand, which occurred 1h30 later, was more symbolic than anything else. We’ll see Ben Shelton again, that’s for sure. Paul can completely change the course of his career in two days.