November 03, (THEWILL) – At the Paris Masters on Thursday, Tommy Paul defeated Rafael Nadal 3-6 7-6(4) 1-6 to reach the third round on a day when the second and fourth seeds both failed to go through.
The American fell a set and a break behind early on as Nadal controlled the match, but the world number 31 came back admirably from that precarious position. Due to his aggressive style of play, he first broke back for 2-2 in the second set before levelling the match in the tie-break.
Nadal subsequently conceded the lead to Paul with a bad service game in the last set, but the 25-year-old held on at 3-1 after surviving an exciting game. The 22-time Grand Slam champion battled back from being down 0-40 in the following game, coming within millimetres of completing a remarkable comeback, but his shot, which would have been a winner, went just wide.
After winning the game and improving his record to 5-1, Paul only needed a hold to register a crushing third-set score, which he accomplished with style.
Paul asserted post-match that it was his greatest effort in weeks and helped him get past one of the “big three.”
As a result, Nadal, who has never claimed the Paris Masters title, is unable to reclaim the top spot in the ATP Rankings.
