Tommy Paul of the United States beat Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-4 in their second-round match at the Queen’s Club Championships on Thursday. The 25-year-old Paul will face defending champion and second seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy in the quarterfinals on Friday.
It was Paul’s first win over Wawrinka. He did not give the 37-year-old Swiss much respite and put in a clinical performance.
On that note, here’s a look at three things that stood out in the match:
#1 Paul got an early break to surge ahead
Tommy Paul made a great start by breaking Wawrinka in the second game of the first set. Wawrinka saved as many as four break points in the game, but could not prevent the break in the end. Paul then trailed 15-40 in the subsequent game, but managed to win four consecutive points to hold his serve and go 3-0 ahead.
There were a lot of crosscourt backhand exchanges between the two before Paul pulled the trigger by playing his down-the-line backhand for outright winners. Wawrinka struggled with his movement as the American asserted his supremacy from the get-go.
#2 Paul got another break and dominated with his backhand to win the first set
Tommy Paul again broke Wawrinka in the fourth game of the first set to take a 4-0 lead. He then held his serve to love to win the first five games of the match. However, the Swiss managed to salvage some pride by holding his serve in the subsequent game.
Paul then served out the set by again saving a couple of break points. His powerful backhand allowed him to dominate most of the rallies as Wawrinka looked somewhat rusty in the first set.
#3 Wawrinka fared better in the second set, but Paul managed to clinch victory
Stan Wawrinka made a very good start to the second set by holding his serve to love. However, Paul held his serve and broke the Swiss in the third game to go 2-1 ahead. The American then held his serve again to take a decisive 3-1 lead. He played his forehand crosscourt with a fair amount of top spin in the second set to keep moving Wawrinka to his right.
Wawrinka managed to hold his serve from that point onwards, but could not break the American. Tommy Paul thus registered a comfortable win to set up a clash with Berrettini. Wawrinka moved better in the second set, but his serve remained below-par. The Swiss could only win 62% and 53% of the points off his first and second serves, respectively.
