Tommy Paul has spoken of the "small adjustments" he made to his game during his Australian Open campaign after the tournament's scheduling meant he played all five of his singles matches on different courts.
Show Court Arena, 1573 Arena, John Cain Arena, Margaret Court Arena, and finally, Rod Laver Arena — the No.12 seed certainly worked his way up the order of precedence at Melbourne Park as he progressed through the draw.
Culminating in a 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-1 quarter-final loss to Alexander Zverev, Paul drew attention to his differing court schedule.
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Tommy Paul during his quarter-final match Alexander Zverev. Hannah Peters via Getty Images
"I played on every court there is here," he told media post-match.
"That was my fifth match — fifth different court.
"I had played two matches at night and then two matches during the day. That's really the 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.
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"It was a little warmer today. The balls were bouncing up a little higher, which I did not mind."
Despite the challenge of changing conditions, Paul stated that he was not making a complaint about his schedule.
"By no means am I complaining about that," he said.
"I don't normally put in requests [to tournament organisers], 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."
With his best-ever run at the Australian Open brought to an end, Paul was both elated by his showing against the World No.2 and discouraged by his inability to close the tiebreakers.
Zverev overpowered Paul 7-0 and 7-1 in back-to-back tiebreaks with three unforced errors in the deathblow games alone.
"Losing sucks always," he said.
Tommy Paul reacts during his quarter-final match against Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open. Getty
"But, you know, there are good takeaways [from the match].
"I served for the first two sets and won the third set — not easy — but I won the third set.
"I just have to close those sets out. That's what the top players do so well. When they're front-running, they do a great job in closing big sets or any sets, and that's what I didn't do well today.
"Then when we got to the breakers, he obviously dominated the breakers.
"I made way too many unforced errors, and he locked it down. He did what he does, and he played great breakers."
