Paul Wins Longest Match in Acapulco's History to Reach Biggest Career Final

| by Zachary Wimer

Tommy Paul will play his first ATP 500 final on Saturday and he really had to fight for it.

In the semifinals of the 2023 Mexican Open in Acapulco, the third highest-ranked American took none other than the US no. 1, Taylor Fritz. The two are very close friends and Fritz spoke about their meeting also prior to the match. In the past, they met three times on the ATP Tour, with the world no. 5 winning two of those matches.

But everything was much different this time around. Paul reached his maiden major semifinal in Melbourne earlier this year, and he had sufficient confidence to record his seventh win over a player ranked in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings.

2023 Mexican Open Acapulco ATP Prize Money & Points Overview - $2,013,940
2023 Mexican Open Acapulco ATP Prize Money & Points Overview - $2,013,940

Paul, who is only five months younger than Fritz, started the match better as he broke his opponent in the sixth game of the first set. Moreover, he saved two break points that Fritz had and after 46 minutes, he won the quickest set of the match.

The second set was much more dramatic than the first one. First, Fritz got a break to lead 3-1 in the set, but was immediately broken back. Then, Paul broke the American no. 1 to serve for the match, but he missed an overhead on his first match point and ended up being broken back too.

Since players couldn't finish the set on their service games, a tie-break had to decide. The American no. 3 had a better start, earning the first mini-break, but eventually, Fritz won the tie-break 7-2 to force a decider already after an hour and 55 minutes of play.

The third set was the longest and by far the most dramatic. On six occasions a game had to be decided through multiple deuces and both players had 8 break points.

However, they were both able to use only one of those, as Fritz led 3-1 in the decider, but ultimately lost the advantage. In the twelfth game, Paul had two more match points, but once again, he couldn't use those and another tie-break had to take place.

This time, Paul had a superb start. He got two mini-breaks early on and never looked back. After three hours and 29 minutes, Paul won the match 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(2) to win the longest match that was ever played in Acapulco and reach the biggest final of his career.

2023 Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open ATP Entry List - Alcaraz, Tsitsipas, Ruud & more
2023 Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open ATP Entry List - Alcaraz, Tsitsipas, Ruud & more

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