Tommy Paul on cusp of becoming American No. 1 at Queen’s
Tommy Paul could become the American No. 1 for the first time tomorrow if he wins the Queen’s Championship final against Lorenzo Musetti.
Musetti progressed past the lowest ranked remaining player Jordan Thompson in the semi final 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 while Paul won in straight sets against countryman Sebastian Korda 6-4, 6-6 (7-6).
In a rare occurrence for tennis, the final will be the first time Paul and Musetti have met on the ATP Tour.
This makes the outcome anyone’s best guess, although Musetti is the player with a previous ATP 500 title to his name while Paul has the motivation of becoming the American No. 1 to play for.
Paul said: “That would be awesome. The main goal is, I got to 12 in the world at some point last year, I want to get to top 10.
“I said I wanted to win more tournaments this year. I got one and I have an opportunity to get another tomorrow, so I’m going to come out ready to play.”
Currently ranked 12, securing his first ATP 500 title would see him leapfrog Taylor Fritz, who exited in the quarter-final to Thompson but will play in the doubles final, into 11.
Musetti, only 22, displayed against Thompson why he will be so hard to beat with his stellar defence, aided by his quick movement and ability to cover ground across the court.
The Italian has now reached an ATP Tour final across all three surfaces and boasts a 2-0 record in previous finals, beating Carlos Alcaraz on clay in the ATP 500 Hamburg Open and Matteo Berrettini on hardcourt at the ATP 250 Napoli Cup.
Previous Roland-Garros boys champion Paul, now 27, knocked out home favourite Jack Draper en route to the finals and could finally reach his perceived potential by topping the American podium.
The pair will cherish the momentum gained heading into Wimbledon and are both set to feature at the Paris 2024 Olympics which moves back onto clay at Roland-Garros.
