ATP Dallas Open: Paul reaches final beating Shelton

The world number 15 Paul defeated 16th-ranked Shelton after 79 minutes by winning 27 of 37 first-serve points (73%) and 14 of 22 second-serve points (64%).
Tommy Paul advanced to the Dallas Open final on Saturday by defeating fellow American Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4. There, he will look to win his second ATP Tour championship.
The world number 15 Paul defeated 16th-ranked Shelton after 79 minutes by winning 27 of 37 first-serve points (73%) and 14 of 22 second-serve points (64%).

Paul added, “These courts helped me a little bit.” “Compared to some of the other courts we’ve played on, they’re not jumping as high. a little bit more of the ball was kept in my strike zone.

“It wasn’t as good as I would have liked to serve, but I managed to win a lot of those service games, so that was really important.”

Paul reached his fourth career ATP final by ending a six-match losing streak against top-20 opponents.
Paul remarked, “I feel like the set is over if I get broken, so it’s high pressure the entire match.”

Paul moved on to play the winner of the latter semifinal between American Marcos Giron and fourth-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in Sunday’s title match.

Paul, who reached his first Grand Slam semifinal in the Australian Open of 2023, lost his only previous tour finals at Acapulco and Eastbourne last year. Paul’s lone ATP championship came from a 2021 victory in Stockholm.

Paul defeated the 21-year-old left-hander in his first ATP semifinal since Toronto last year, leveling his record against Shelton at 2-2.

Shelton defeated Paul in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open the previous year, but Paul also lost to Shelton in the US Open’s fourth round and in Tokyo, where Shelton won his first ATP championship in October of the same year.

Paul won the first set after breaking for a 3-2 lead and winning four games in a row.
Shelton gave up a break in the second set after he mishandled a backhand volley, giving Paul the advantage 2-1. From then on, they each held serve until the very finish.

World No. 67 Giron defeated US No. 1 seed Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals. Giron lost his sole ATP final in 2022 at San Diego.

Mannarino, ranked 17th in the world, is aiming for his sixth tour victory. He has won three straight ATP finals and has lifted trophies in Rosmalen in 2019, Winston-Salem in 2022, and Newport, Astana, and Sofia last year.