Superb 💯 The moment World No. 52 @TommyPaul1 gained his first ATP Title!
The two most consistent players in the past week in Sweden faced off in the Stockholm Open final and it was the American who proved better than the Canadian. Paul has played a very aggressive style of tennis all week long with very precise groundstrokes on top of great serving all week long. Today was more of the same early as Paul was able to take a break off of Shapovalov who was not very sharp to start the match.
The Canadian could not rely on his serve too much early and Paul was using every chance to attack. The backhand was an obvious choice both in play and with his serve and that proved quite effective early. Paul won the first set with 6-4 but in the 2nd one, it was Shapovalov who rose to the challenge. The Canadian played much better in the 2nd set.
Paul on the other hand dipped a bit in his level and focus which happened before. It happened against Murray and it happened against Tiafoe with both times the American being able to rise above it. Shapovalov won the 2nd set with 6-2 rather easily and early on it seemed like the Canadian will be able to pull out the match.
He had chances especially in the 3rd set when he had two break points but Paul saved them. In the next game, Paul had break points and he was able to convert them and ultimately close out the match for the biggest win of his career.
Superb 💯 The moment World No. 52 @TommyPaul1 gained his first ATP Title!