"Every morning, he was sending me a long para about what to do" - Tommy Paul hopes Reilly Opelka extends Australian Open help to Davis Cup as well
American tennis player and World No. 19 Tommy Paul hopes to continue to receive coaching tips from his former Davis Cup teammate and compatriot Reilly Opelka.
Although Opelka missed the season's first Major, he was instrumental in Paul's good run as he made sure to send tips and inputs to the latter on playing certain players. Paul enjoyed a stellar run at the Australian Open where he reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final.
Unseeded at the tournament, Paul accounted for 30th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain in the second round and 24th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the fourth, before going down to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
The United States of America is now gearing up to take on Uzbekistan in the Davis Cup Qualifiers, with Paul pitted against the second-best Uzbek player Khumoyun Sultanov in his opening singles match.
The 25-year-old hopes to maintain the momentum this week and said he hoped to get more coaching tips from Opelka.
“When the (Australian Open) started I was texting Reilly (Opelka) a bunch about the players I was playing and he was giving me the scouting reports," he said. "Every morning when I’d wake up for a match, he was sending me a long paragraph about what to do against certain players… maybe I’ll hit him up tomorrow!"
Tommy Paul's girlfriend makes heads turn
Tommy Paul's girlfriend Paige Lorenze accompanied the American tennis player to the Australian Open and even made a "behind the scenes" vlog from Melbourne.
Lorenze is a model and social media influencer who has over 400,000 followers on Instagram and over 60,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel. She has modeled for a number of brands such as Pacsun, Tiger Mist, and Revlon, and is also the founder of a clothing brand named Dairy Boy.
Tommy Paul spoke about his girlfriend in an on-court interview after his Australian Open quarter-final match.
"If you guys see her, make sure you wish her happy birthday," he said.
The 25-year-old also wished Lorenze on her birthday, which is on January 26, by sharing a few images and videos on Instagram.
"Happy birthday to the birthday bean. Just some of my favorites with you," Tommy Paul captioned his post.
Before dating Tommy Paul, Lorenze dated actor Armie Hammer and country singer Morgan Wallen. She spoke about her relationship with Hammer on the podcast "Sofia with an F", stating that she didn't want to take part in a docuseries about the actor's alleged abuse.