Home Run: Paul Commits to Delray Beach Return
By Tennis Now | @Tennis_Now | Wednesday, November 1, 2023Tommy Paul is set for a Delray Beach homecoming.World No. 12 and Palm Beach County resident Paul, the second-highest-ranked American, has committed to play the 2024 Delray Beach Open ATP 250 event, organizers announced today.Sabalenka: Very Disappointed with WTAPaul joins American No. 1 and defending champion Taylor Fritz in the Delray Beach field.This year has been a breakout season for Paul, 26. He reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open with wins over two seeds and fellow American Ben Shelton, was a two-time finalist and notched a win over No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz to move up from No. 32 to No. 12 in the world rankings.
Paul will play Delray Beach for the fifth straight year, with his best finish a semifinal in 2022. Later that year he scored wins over world No. 3 Alexander Zverev, his first over No. 4 Alcaraz, and Grand Slam major winners Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic, the 2014 DBO champion. He won his first ATP Tour title at 2021 Stockholm by defeating Fritz, 2018 Delray winner Frances Tiafoe and three-time Grand Slam major winner Andy Murray.Delray Beach locals saw early signs of Paul’s talent when he won back-to-back titles at the USTA National Clay Court Championships in Boys 16s and 18s in 2013-14.
The 10-day event will begin with an ATP Champions Tour Legends event opening weekend Feb. 9-11 featuring fan favorites Bob and Mike Bryan, the most successful doubles team in the history of the sport. Joining them will be 2006 Delray Beach Open champion Tommy Haas, who reached the No. 2 world ranking.Singles and doubles main draw action for the ATP 250 event starts Monday, Feb. 12 and concludes with the finals on Sunday, Feb. 18.The tournament is introducing a new website experience at www.DelrayBeachOpen.com.Photo credit: Delray Beach Open]]>
