American Tommy Paul revealed that, along with Indian Wells on home soil, Wimbledon was his favourite tournament in the world.
It’s easy to see why when you look at his record at the All England Club.
Paul charged past the ever-dangerous Alexander Bublik in straight sets on Friday, progressing to the fourth round for the second time in three years.
Paul has only played in three Wimbledon main draws and has never fallen before the third round, building an 8-2 record at the event.
“I'm having fun on the grass. I like it. Every time I play on it, I feel more and more comfortable,” said Paul, one of just four men to win their third-round matches on a rain-affected day in London.
“I actually was surprised when I came out on the court today. I thought it was going to be a little more slippery. And it was like the third point of the match or something, I kind of, like, stuck my foot in the ground, and I stopped.
“Normally I feel like when it's slick, you would kind of slide out there. It gave me a little confidence to move a little harder. It helped me out in the match.”
A track-record of success at Wimbledon is one thing, but perhaps a better predictor of how Paul was going to fare at this year’s championships was the fact he won the recent title at Queen’s Club.
Just two weeks ago, Paul won the first ATP 500 title of his career at the prestigious London club just a few kilometres north of Wimbledon, and has since built an eight-match winning streak on grass.
History shows this bodes well for Paul’s fortunes at Wimbledon.
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Last year, Carlos Alcaraz captured his first grass-court title at Queen’s, something Australian great Todd Woodbridge felt was a significant moment.
“Winning Queen's had been a big precursor to going on and doing well at Wimbledon, if not winning it, for 40 to 50 years,” said Woodbridge, a nine-time doubles champion at Wimbledon, plus a singles semifinalist in 1997.
“The Queen's court played very fast. And that means that if you can handle that court, you're in great form, your timing's good and you just take that confidence over to Wimbledon, where you do get a little bit more time, because the courts are slightly softer.”
Sure enough, Alcaraz went on to triumph at Wimbledon just a few weeks later.
In that 40-50 year period Woodbridge referenced, eight players – John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Lleyton Hewitt, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Alcaraz – have completed the Queens’-Wimbledon double.
Two other Queen’s champions – Andy Roddick in 2004 and 2005, and Matteo Berrettini in 2021 – have progressed to the subsequent Wimbledon final.
Since 1980, the Queen’s champion has gone on to reach the quarterfinals (or better) at that year’s Wimbledon on 29 of 43 occasions.
Paul is one victory away from reaching the same stage at the All England Club.
His fourth-round opponent is yet-to-be determined. Veterans Roberto Bautista Agut and Fabio Fognini will resume their held-over match in the fourth set on Saturday, fighting for the right to face Paul as the American rests.
Beyond that, a potential quarterfinal looms against defending champion Alcaraz, a player Paul has already beaten twice.
“You want to come in (to the tournament) being like, ‘OK, it's just another tournament’, but you also want to take the confidence from the week before, and come into the tournament with that,” Paul said of his mentality after triumphing at Queen’s.
“You have to come in humble and ready to compete from the jump. I mean, we saw in my second round (against) Otto (Virtanen), he played awesome tennis, and I had to be ready for that. Luckily I was to a point. He almost got me.
“But I mean, yeah, I think you've really got to have both mindsets when coming into a Slam.”
Although a Wimbledon quarterfinal would be a career first, this is not unchartered territory on the Grand Slam stage for Paul, a semifinalist at Australian Open 2023.
We await to see how it unfolds from here at the All England Club.