Fellow Americans Jared Donaldson and Ernesto Escobedo are separated by just one year in age and 10 spots in the rankings, but there was a veritable chasm between their levels of tennis on Monday at the BB&T Atlanta Open. Donaldson needed just 57 minutes to sweep aside his compatriot and earn a place in the second round.
Although he served at a mere 48 percent, the world No. 59 dropped only 10 points in eight service games and did not face a single break point. He also won almost half of his return points (48 percent on first serve, 47 percent on second serve) to break Escobedo four times.
Donaldson awaits another countryman–either wild card Taylor Fritz or wild card Christopher Eubanks–in the second round.
He won’t be the only 20-year-old American in the second round. That’s because Tommy Paul advanced with just his second career ATP-level victory, a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 upset of No. 7 seed Hyeon Chung. Paul, who committed to the nearby University of Georgia before deciding to turn pro in 2015, prevailed in two hours and one minute.
The world No. 291 fired six aces while double-faulting only once and he broke Chung a whopping seven times.
“I had to bounce back in the second,” Paul said. “I thought I did a pretty good job. He had a lot of chances early in the second. I thought my fitness was something that really helped me out today a lot.
“It’s really big. I’m definitely really excited to get out there and play on Wednesday, too.”
Another win would give Paul a berth in his first career ATP quarterfinal and would send him even higher up in the rankings. He is already projected to climb 48 places to No. 243 with a chance to soar as high as No. 223 if he picks up a second-round victory. Regardless, he has a long way to go to match the current heights of contemporaries and fellow Atlanta entrants Donaldson, Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, and 2016 semifinalist Reilly Opelka.
“I really love all the other [Americans] my age,” Paul said. “I love seeing them do well. It kind of pushes me to work hard. ‘If they can do it, why can’t I?’ That’s kind of how I think about it. I’m happy for them and hopefully I can get there, too.”
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nice wins for JD and TP
Watched Paul vs Chung courtside. Really high quality hitting out there. I felt like picking him in daily picks because I had watched him play well in qualies but I thought I was just letting the fact that I had seen him
in qualies already and that he’s a rising American star get in the way of the more logical Chung pick. I’m glad the young American proved that pick wrong. Let’s go Tommy!!
good win