ATP 250 DALLAS OPEN. USA.
The wait is over. After lifting his first champion trophy, Tommy Paul clinched his second career title this Sunday after defeating his compatriot Marcos Giron in the final of the Dallas Open with scores of 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3.
The second seed not only leaves the Texas ATP 250 with the trophy and the satisfaction of becoming the No. 2 racket of the United States, rising to No. 14 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings to surpass Frances Tiafoe (now behind only Taylor Fritz). The 26-year-old right-hander also takes away great sensations after dominating almost the entire week with notable authority.
Paul reached his fourth ATP Tour final after winning all three of his main draw matches in straight sets against dangerous opponents: Taro Daniel, Dominic Koepfer, and Ben Shelton. And this Sunday, he had no problem raising his level to defeat an inspired opponent who had eliminated Tiafoe and Adrian Mannarino in the last two rounds to come close to his first ATP Tour title.
Despite squandering an early 3-1 lead in the first set, Paul stayed in the match and remained patient until winning the tie-break. He also kept his faith intact even as his opponent, World No. 67, surprised him with a break at 5-6 in the second set to force a decider.
How did Tommy respond? By winning the first three games of the third set and securing his service games to protect the break advantage, which ultimately allowed him to win the match after two hours and 32 minutes of play, to hold a record of 2-2 in circuit finals, and become the first American champion of the ATP Tour 2024. In the process, he leaves his Lexus ATP HeadToHead with Giron at 2-1.
“It’s been quite an incredible match,” said Paul, who defeated Denis Shapovalov in Stockholm 2021 to claim his first tour title. “It’s the best final I’ve played.”
Paul, who started the week as No. 15 in the rankings with a 3-2 record for the season, had lost his last two finals, both played in 2023 (Acapulco, Eastbourne). This Sunday, he ended the title drought. Now he will seek to carry the momentum to the Delray Beach Open, which starts this Monday, where Paul will be the third seed.
Giron, on the other hand, bids farewell to a great week in which he won his first matches of the season on the tour (now with a 4-2 record), and will climb 15 spots to No. 52 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. His next challenge will also be in Delray Beach, where he will debut against his compatriot Emilio Nava.
“Marcos, I’ve been watching you all week, you’ve been playing amazing tennis,” said Paul to Giron at the trophy presentation. “It was really fun to watch you play and it’s great. I know your team and you very well. We’ve played since Challengers, so it’s really cool to play the final of a Tour event now and hopefully we can keep doing it, keep advancing in many more matches like this. That was amazing.”