Tommy Paul overcomes Hubert Hurkacz to reach Italian Open semis

American 14th seed Tommy Paul came through a marathon match to beat Polish seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz 7-5 3-6 6-3 and reach the Italian Open semifinals on Thursday.

Paul, who defeated defending champion Daniil Medvedev in the previous round, had yet to drop a set before the quarterfinal, but Hurkacz managed to force the match into the decider before the American came out on top.

It was a match which went back and forth with 13 breaks of serve overall. The pair exchanged breaks early in the opening set, with Paul breaking twice to lead 3-2. With Paul serving for the set, Hurkacz broke again to make it 5-5.

Paul broke back immediately and held serve to take the first set. The American made a strong start to the second, breaking in the first game, but Hurkacz came back, breaking twice to force a third set.

This time it was the Pole who took an early 2-0 lead, but they again exchanged breaks of serve to make it 3-3 before Paul made the decisive break to go 5-3 up, and then saved six break points to wrap up victory.

Paul awaits the winner of Thursday’s last quarterfinal between Greece’s sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and Chilean 21st seed Nicolas Jarry.

Another Chilean, Alejandro Tabilo is already into the other semifinal and will take on German third seed Alexander Zverev.

• Women’s tennis will be played at Queen’s Club from 2025 for the first time in more than half a century after the women’s tour announced on Thursday that it would host a WTA 500 event ahead of the Wimbledon Championships.

The iconic Queen’s Club last hosted the women’s event in 1973, after which it was moved to Eastbourne, but it will now be held in the first week of the grass court season — a week before the men’s tournament.

“This new calendar is an important step in increasing the visibility of our sport, particularly the women’s game,” Chris Pollard, director of major events at Britain's Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), said.

Reuters