Tommy Paul upsets Hyeon Chung at BB&T Atlanta Open

Tommy Paul returns a backhand to Hyeon Chung of South Korea during the BB&T Atlanta Open at Atlantic Station on July 24, 2017 in Atlanta.

Credit: Kevin C. Cox

Credit: Kevin C. Cox

Tommy Paul returns a backhand to Hyeon Chung of South Korea during the BB&T Atlanta Open at Atlantic Station on July 24, 2017 in Atlanta.

For those who waited out the thunderstorms, Tommy Paul delivered an exciting match to the fans Monday night.

Some three hours after it expected to be finished, Paul beat seventh-seeded Hyeon Chung in three sets in the first day of the BB&T Atlanta Open.

As the underdog playing in his home country, Paul got the most support from the crowd of any player on Monday and received a huge standing ovation after the win.

“I love playing in front of this crowd here,” Paul said after the match. “I wanted to play in front of the lights, so the rain kind of helped me out with that one. (The support) helps out a ton. It helps me push deep into third sets.”

Paul reached the main draw of the tournament through qualifying. The 20-year old had won just one ATP match in his career, which came last year in Houston. Ranked 291st in the world, Paul will take on the winner of Reilly Opelka and Malek Jaziri in the second round.

The first game of the match displayed how the rest of play would play out. The two players dueled for nearly 10 minutes before Chung finally took a 1-0 lead in the opening set. He went on to win the set, 6-4.

Paul, with the crowd strongly behind him, bounced back in a big way in the second set. He landed 23 of his 26 first serves and won 65 percent of them. He saved the only break point he faced in the set and went on to comfortably win it, 6-2.

In the final set, Paul won nearly 50 percent of his serve returns on his way to a 6-3 win to take the match.

He had six aces to Chung’s three overall.