Tommy Paul outlasts Corentin Moutet to reach the Lyon semifinals

Tommy Paul is into the semifinals in Lyon. The fourth-seeded American got past Corentin Moutet 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in a Friday quarterfinal that stretched to 2 hours and 45 minutes on the indoor hard court.

Paul grabbed the first break of the match at 5-4 and served out the opening set. Moutet hit back right away, breaking to start the second set and racing to a 3-0 lead on his way to forcing a decider.

The American struck first again in the third. He broke early, broke once more to lead 4-1 and then held on through a long, grinding final rally to seal the win.

Still perfect against Moutet

Paul is now 3-0 against the Frenchman. He also beat Moutet at the 2024 Paris Olympics and in the first round at Delray Beach in February.

This is Paul's first trip to the Lyon event. Ranked 15th in the world, he reached the quarterfinals at the Shanghai Masters last week and won the Houston title in April.

Moutet, ranked 94th, had knocked out fellow Frenchmen Ugo Humbert and Felix Balshaw earlier in the week. He is set to drop out of the top 100 when the new rankings come out Monday.

What's next

Paul plays for a spot in the final on Saturday. His opponent will be the winner of Friday's quarterfinal between second-seeded American Taylor Fritz and Germany's Daniel Altmaier.

Fellow American Brandon Nakashima meets top seed Flavio Cobolli later Friday in another quarterfinal. The final is set for Sunday.