2023 Australian Open: Tommy Paul defeats Ben Shelton in all-American quarterfinal

American Tommy Paul advanced to his first career Slam semifinal at the Australian Open, defeating American Ben Shelton in four sets — 7-6 (6), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 — Wednesday in Melbourne. Here’s what you need to know:

• Paul became the first American man since Andy Roddick in 2009 to reach the Australian Open men’s singles semifinal.

• Paul recorded 43 winners to 26 unforced errors (plus-17), while Shelton had 42 winners and 50 unforced errors (minus-8).

• This is Paul’s furthest result at a Slam. Before the Australian Open, Paul’s best result at a Slam was the fourth round (Wimbledon 2022).

Backstory

Paul, 25, had a successful junior tennis career. He defeated fellow American Taylor Fritz to win the 2015 junior French Open and also made the final at the 2015 junior US Open.

As a pro, Paul has one ATP Tour title, winning the 2021 Stockholm Open. He entered the Australian Open ranked No. 35 in the world.

Shelton, 20, entered this year’s Australian Open as the reigning NCAA men’s tennis singles champion with the Florida Gators. Shelton’s trip to Australia is the first time he has left the United States. He will be ranked in the top 50 of the ATP Tour world rankings Monday.

With Paul, Shelton and Sebastian Korda in the quarterfinals, it’s the highest number of American men in the final eight of the Australian Open since 2000.

How Paul won

Paul won because of his serve. He wasn’t broken in the first set and didn’t lose a point on serve during the tiebreaker. Paul fired seven aces, converted 66 percent of his first serves and won 88 percent of his first-serve points.

Despite Shelton recording 24 aces on his serve, Paul found success returning, winning 33 percent of his receiving points. Paul broke Shelton’s serve three times.