Tommy Paul asked whether he has any complaints about the Australian Open's scheduling after being knocked out by Alexander Zverev

Tommy Paul was unable to reach his second Australian Open semi-final after losing to Alexander Zverev.

Paul had matched an Andy Roddick record after beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to reach the last eight in Melbourne.

This followed up from Paul’s victories over Kei Nishikori, Christopher O’Connell and Roberto Carballes Baena to set up the quarter-final with Zverev.

Zverev had spoken about his friendship with Paul prior to their quarter-final, having lost his two previous matches against the American.

However, Paul squandered opportunities in both of the first two sets and Zverev was able to capitalise.

Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

Tommy Paul explains the adjustment he had to make against Alexander Zverev

This was the fifth different court that Paul had played on during this year’s Australian Open, and his first time on Rod Laver Arena since reaching the semi-finals in 2023.

Zverev was the highest ranked player that Paul had competed against by 55 ranking places, but it was actually the changing of courts that he appeared to find most challenging when speaking in his post-match press conference.

“No. I mean, I think the only real adjustment was I played on every court there was here,” said Paul. “That was my fifth match, fifth different court. I played two matches at night and then two matches during the day.

“I mean, that’s really my only adjustment that I had to make. We came a little earlier and practiced on the court because we hadn’t hit on it yet. It was a little warmer today. The balls were bouncing up a little higher, which I did not mind actually.

More Tennis News

“But, I mean, yeah, it was small adjustments. Obviously he’s two in the world. He’s ranked higher than guys I’ve played. But, I mean, I usually like playing those matchups, so it wasn’t a huge adjustment, no.”

Tommy Paul answers whether he has any complaints about Australian Open scheduling

Another American player in Alex Michelsen had his Australian Open request rejected for his fourth round match against Alex de Minaur.

Paul revealed that he chose not to make a request, and insisted that he had no complaints about the court scheduling.

“No. By no means am I complaining about that,” said Paul. “I don’t normally put in requests, especially when I’m not in the States, because I’m probably not going to get what I want. I play on the courts they put me on, and I try and win on the courts they put me on. That’s my mindset.”

Despite his disappointing defeat, Paul has guaranteed that he will break inside the top 10 of the ATP rankings for the first time after reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals.

Click here to read article