Tommy Paul of the U.S. in action during his final match against Canada's Denis Shapovalov at The Royal Tennis Hall in Stockholm, Sweden, on Nov. 13, 2021.TT NEWS AGENCY/Reuters
Tommy Paul won the first ATP Tour title of his career, beating Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to capture the Stockholm Open on Saturday.
The American player concluded the week of his life as a professional — during which he beat Andy Murray and compatriots Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe — by closing into the net on the back of a big first serve and hitting a winner on his third championship point.
Paul — wearing his cap back to front — only won two of his 12 break points against the defending champion, the big one coming at 4-4 in the third set when, at 0-40, he stretched to send a backhand down the line that Shapovalov of Canada couldn’t return at the net.
“It took my best tennis to beat Denis,” Paul said. “It’s the most fun I’ve had playing a tennis tournament.”
The No. 52-ranked Paul is assured of breaking into the world’s top 50 after this week. He won the boys’ singles title at the French Open in 2015.
“It was just a matter of time when he got a week like this,” said Shapovalov, who was defending the title he won in 2019.
The 2020 event was canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak.