AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2022

Tommy Paul

Press Conference

T. PAUL/M. Kukushkin

6-3, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on making it through to the next round. Must be great to get through in straight sets.

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, definitely. It was a pretty clean match today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Were you watching the Djokovic situation? Does it change your outlook on the tournament seeing him, your path clear of that?

TOMMY PAUL: I wouldn't say it's clear. I mean, there's still a good player in front of me tomorrow, or the next day.

I wasn't really following it too closely. I was just thinking like I'm going to play whoever is put in front of me.

Obviously I'm going to have to do a little more scouting on Kecmanovic than Novak. I've seen Novak play a few more times. Yeah, I'm excited to play.

Q. It's been a good day for Americans, Opelka won, Korda had a big win over Norrie. Korda was talking afterwards feeling there is sort of American guys pushing each other with results and being closely packed together in the rankings right now, trying to one-up each other. Do you sense that? Do you sense a pack vibe pushing you all along?

TOMMY PAUL: Definitely. I think the younger Americans coming up like Brooksby, Nakashima, Korda, it pushed our group a lot, too, like Frances, me, Fritz, Reilly. I think it's good healthy competition. We're all happy for each other at the same time but we want to do better than the other person.

Definitely competitive, definitely fun.

Q. Korda specifically, what do you make of his game?

TOMMY PAUL: I mean, so clean. Fun to watch. I like watching him play a lot. He had my number last year, so definitely one of my goals this year is to get a W over him.

Yeah, I mean, a good player, really good player all around, fun to watch.

Q. Offseason, coming into this season, in terms of where you're setting expectations for yourself or how you're framing this. Because you've been on the tour for a bit now at this level. What do you see for this lap of the calendar? What would make it a success for you?

TOMMY PAUL: I mean, I just worked hard in the offseason, and ended the year pretty well. I want to continue getting better. I mean, I've been playing well and I think just getting a lot more wins. I want to definitely have a positive record this year, you know. Hopefully add a couple more titles to my name, and, you know, beat some players I haven't beaten. I mean, there's definitely a few people on the list. Should be a good one.

Q. Do you think men's tennis will see like players breaking through who aren't expected... There is obviously guys who are really close, been talked about, Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas kind of tier guys, and I feel there is a lot of energy in the tier where you are and other Americans are. Do you feel there is space for somebody in that group to, say, win a slam or just disrupt the order at least of where people are expected to do things, jump the line?

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, that's all of our goals. Every player that plays in the top 100, that's our goal.

I mean, I think a lot of people have like the level to do it. I think a lot of people, we all have a lot of improvement to do it, but I think it's doable. I mean, these guys are playing at a very, very high level. It's just consistency, like we're all -- I mean, Frances can play at some of the highest level I have seen, and, I mean, if he gets more consistent with it, he can be right there.