Tommy Paul has shared his anger after fatigue got the better of him in his Wimbledon defeat to Hubert Hurkacz.
After three hours and 11 minutes on Court 2, the Pole came from behind to beat the American 4-6, 7-6(7-5), 7-5, 6-2.
Hurkacz now moves on to the fourth round at Wimbledon, with Paul left hugely frustrated by one particular aspect of his early exit.
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Tommy Paul bemoans ‘unacceptable’ moment in Wimbledon loss to Hubert Hurkacz
Told in his post-match press conference that he looked dejected in the last few games, Paul was also asked how he felt emotionally at that stage.
He replied: “How was I feeling emotionally?
“I mean, I was pretty p—–.
“I was p—–, because I felt like my legs were very, very tired.
“You know, you’re playing Wimbledon.
“You want to be prepared.
“I mean, I feel like it’s pretty unacceptable for your legs to fail you, I mean, especially this early in a Grand Slam.
“So I was very upset about that.
“I mean, that’s what was going through my mind, I guess.”
Before losing to Hurkacz, Paul defeated both Alexandre Muller and Kwon Soon-woo in straight sets at the All England Club.
He needed just one hour and 13 minutes to get past the former, and two hours and 11 minutes to beat the latter.
| Hubert Hurkacz | Tommy Paul | |
| 20 | Aces | 6 |
| 1 | Double faults | 6 |
| 59 (80/136) | 1st serve in (%) | 58 (80/138) |
| 81 (65/80) | 1st serve points won (%) | 71 (57/80) |
| 52 (29/56) | 2nd serve points won (%) | 59 (34/58) |
| 57 (26/46) | Net points won (%) | 69 (24/35) |
| 43 (3/7) | Break points won (%) | 20 (1/5) |
| 34 | Receiving points won (%) | 31 |
| 45 | Winners | 38 |
| 39 | Unforced errors | 36 |
| 141 | Total points won | 133 |
| 2720.1 | Distance covered (m) | 2850.9 |
Tommy Paul analyzes his level in shock Wimbledon loss
Hurkacz has really impressed so far at Wimbledon, knocking out 11th seed Casper Ruud and Sebastian Ofner.
But the unseeded Pole was still the underdog against the American, who was this year’s 21st seed at SW19.
Praising his opponent, Paul said: “I thought Hubi played pretty well. He served very well. I think after the first set, he really picked up his level.
“I thought he started hitting his forehand well, changing direction really well. I mean, he obviously played a lot better than I did today.”
And offering what he could have done better before analyzing his grass-court season, he commented: “I think I could have served a lot better.
“I’m not sure what my first-serve percentage was, but it felt like I hit a second serve every single point.
“Then I feel like I started hitting the ball a lot shorter in the court. Once it got to the groundstrokes, I feel like I was on defense a lot more than I should have been.
“Then in terms of my grass court season, definitely not too pumped about it.
“I played pretty well in Queen’s. And then here, I don’t know, I wanted to do better obviously, to answer your question.”
Before his disappointing third round exit at Wimbledon, the ATP ace lost the Queen’s final to Francisco Cerundolo, having withdrawn from Stuttgart beforehand.
