
Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul was recently asked to build his perfect player, in which he picked attributes from a number of players including Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Paul fell to the Serb in the last four of the 2023 Australian Open on Friday, having made it this deep into a Major for the first time in his career.
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When asked by the social media team of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to build his perfect player, the American picked Nadal's forehand and David Nalbandian's backhand.
"I'll probably go Rafa," Tommy Paul said when asked to pick the ideal forehand.
"Nalbandian," was Paul's preference for backhand.
The 25-year-old picked compatriot Reilly Opelka's serve, claiming he is yet to get a hang of the latter's mammoth delivery.
"I'm gonna go with my boy Reilly Opelka. I mean, it's always nice to be seven foot. I mean, I've seen his serve my whole tennis career and I still haven't figured it out," the American stated.
Tommy Paul then picked Tim Henman's volleying skills.
"Tim Henman - yeah my idol. I mean, I've watched a lot of Tim Henman volleying on YouTube, so that's who I'm choosing," he revealed.
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He finally picked Novak Djokovic when asked to name the player whose stamina levels he would like.
"Djokovic probably," Paul stated.
Paul then went with Alex de Minaur and Gael Monfils' foot speed.
"Either De Minaur or Monfils,"
The American then argued that it would be difficult to pick against Rafael Nadal when it comes to tennis IQ.
"Rafa. Yeah, I mean hard to go against Rafa," Paul said.
And finally, he picked Cameron Norrie's resilience and never-say-die attitude.
"Just being a dog? Norrie. The Brits are going to love that one," he stated.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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