Tommy Paul makes it four American men in the Round of 16 for the second straight year, although the No. 1 player in the world awaits him next.
The No. 14 seed joined fellow countrymen Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz and Brandon Nakashima to reach the fourth round of this year’s U.S. Open with a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (3) victory Saturday over Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The 27-year-old Paul will face top-seeded Jannik Sinner — a straight-sets winner over Christopher O’Connell of Australia — on Monday for a trip to the quarterfinals.
Paul, Tiafoe, Fritz and Ben Shelton all had made it to at least the fourth round one year ago, with the latter losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
The last American male to win any Grand Slam tournament remains Andy Roddick’s U.S. Open victory in 2003.
Paul was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon earlier this summer, but last year’s fourth-round elimination marks his best career result at Flushing Meadows.