DALLAS (AP) — Americans Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton cruised to victories Wednesday night to reach the quarterfinals of the Dallas Open.
The second-seeded Paul wore down Taro Daniel with long rallies and games on his Japanese opponent’s serve in a 6-3, 6-2 win. Shelton, the No. 3 seed, used a dominant serve in a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Michael Mmoh.
Daniel saved five break points early in the first set before Paul finally got a break when Daniel ended one of the long rallies on his serve with a forehand into the net.
Paul converted the fourth break point in each of Daniel’s first two service games in the second set, getting the second break after one of many long rallies on the Japanese player’s serve.
Daniel had two break points in the next game, but Paul saved both and went on to hold serve for a 4-0 lead.
Shelton, who lost just three points on his serve, went up 3-0 in the first set with a break of Mmoh.
The servers had won the first 18 points of the second set when Shelton won three in a row on Mmoh’s serve for a break point before going on to break for a 3-2 lead.
Shelton, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the U.S. Open last year, broke Mohr again for a 5-3 lead before the hard-serving left-hander closed out the match at love.
It was Shelton’s first match of the week on the campus of SMU, while Mmoh had advanced with a first-round victory.
“I was pretty surprised with the level I played at today,” said Shelton, who is ranked 16th. “It’s always tough when you’re around a tournament site for almost a week and kind of sit around waiting for your match.”
Two seeded players lost in straight sets in early matches.
Fifth-seeded American Christopher Eubanks fell to Australia’s James Duckworth 7-6 (3), 6-4, while Duckworth’s countryman, No. 6 seed Max Purcell, was a 6-4, 6-3 loser against Marcos Giron of the U.S.
Top-seeded Frances Tiafoe has his tournament opener Thursday night in the round of 16 against 19-year-old fellow American Alex Michelsen.
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