Tommy Paul and his 'co-coach' Eddy, a young kid at courtside, is one of the most heart-warming stories of the ongoing US Open. The 26-year-old, ranked 14, was playing Roman Safiullin in the second round on an outside show court.
Paul was on his way to dropping the second set, trailing by two sets when Eddy, with a ringside seat on Court 17, who had been talking to the American through the match, said the magic words.
"He was the only one out there saying, 'I'm here all night, we'll win it in five.' He really got me through that match," Tommy recalled after making his first US Open fourth round.
At the end of that second-round match, which Paul claimed in five sets, he pulled out a clean tee from his bag and rushed over to Eddy, much to the school boy's delight. "I had to show him some love," he said, adding, "I told him dude, you gotta come to the next one. Message me on Instagram and we'll get hooked up."
Eddy was at courtside again for Paul's third-round match on the storied Arthur Ashe, when he took down the 21st seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
"We got him tickets to our box, but he ended up getting better tickets right on the side of the court," Paul said. "He got louder after I lost the third, which was cool. I went and talked to him a little bit after, I'm hoping he becomes famous."
"I'm not playing a match here without him (Eddy)," the American said during his on-court interview. "You are coming back." It was not an invite, it was an order!
