Paul, Auger-Aliassime each pull through in three to reach Adelaide QFs

Tommy Paul had little time to settle into his 2025 season on Wednesday at the Adelaide International.

Yet the top seed held firm for a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 second-round triumph against Manuel Guinard at the hard-court ATP 250. Paul, who broke serve in his first game of the year en route to the first set, resisted a fierce fightback from the No. 261 in the PIF ATP Rankings in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

“We had never played before. I’d seen him in a couple of tournaments, and I knew that he could bring the level,” said Paul of Guinard. “I got the break early in the first set and kind of rolled from there. Then second set, third set, he picked up his level a tonne, and it was a challenging match. First match of the year is always tough, and it doesn’t help when he’s roping balls all over the court.”

Top seed things ™️@TommyPaul1 gets past Manuel Guinard 6-4 3-6 6-3 to book his place in the @AdelaideTennis quarter-finals. #AdelaideTennis pic.twitter.com/00rFYKGLCz

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 8, 2025

Paul crucially converted both break points he earned against Guinard, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The 27-year-old, who is this week competing at a career-high World No. 12, fell to 15/40 when serving at 5-3 in the deciding set, before he reeled off four consecutive points to seal a one-hour, 52-minute win.

“The first match is always such an important one to feel where your level is,” reflected Paul, who entered the match having gone 0-2 since lifting his fourth ATP Tour title in Stockholm in October. “I felt like I dealt with the pressure points pretty well and I’m looking forward to the next match.”

Next up for Paul in Adelaide is a quarter-final meeting with home favourite Rinky Hijikata. The lucky loser earlier upset seventh seed Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5).

Paul’s countryman and former Adelaide finalist Sebastian Korda also advanced on Wednesday, when the second seed downed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-3. He will take on former champion and hometown hero Thanasi Kokkinakis or Tomas Martin Etcheverry next. Meanwhile fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime was forced to dig deep for a 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 triumph against Arthur Cazaux.

Auger-Aliassime fired 11 aces across the second and third sets to ensure he recovered from a difficult start against Cazaux. The Canadian, who began his season by defeating World No. 4 Taylor Fritz at the United Cup, will meet Marcos Giron in the last eight. Giron defeated Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 6-2.

Miomir Kecmanovic and Benjamin Bonzi each secured comfortable wins against home favourites to book their quarter-final spots. Kecmanovic saw off Christopher O’Connell 7-6(1), 6-2, while Bonzi sunk Li Tu 6-3, 6-3.