Introduction
Tommy Paul (born May 17, 1997 in Voorhees Township, New Jersey) is an American professional tennis player. Paul won the 2015 French Open boys' singles title by defeating fellow American Taylor Fritz in the final in three sets. He also reached the boys' singles final at the 2015 US Open, this time losing to Fritz in three sets. Paul was a quarterfinalist at the2017 Citi Open, an ATP 500 tournament, before losing to Kei Nishikori.
Junior career
Tommy Paul has always been one of the highest ranked juniors of his class. Paul reached a career-high ITF junior rank of No. 3 on December 9, 2015.
Cited as one of North Carolina Tennis' greatest rivalries, Paul played Will Baird a total of 14 times (Paul holding a 10–4 record) throughout their junior careers. In those matches, four took place in quarterfinal rounds, five in semifinal rounds, and two in finals. Ten of their fourteen matches ended in third sets.
Paul reached two junior Grand Slam finals in 2015, winning against Taylor Fritz at the French Open, and losing to him at the U.S. Open.
Professional
Paul turned pro in 2015. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 191 achieved on April 11, 2016. Unusually for an American, Paul has shown a preference for playing on clay, having won the Junior French Open and his first four ITF Futures singles titles on clay. He qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time at the 2015 US Open, losing to Andreas Seppi in the first round.
In March 2016, Paul cracked the Top 200 for the first time by qualifying for the Miami Masters. In April, Paul was awarded a wild card into the 2016 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships at Houston, and defeated 53rd-ranked Paolo Lorenzi in the 1st round for his first career ATP level win.
Paul would then mainly compete on the ATP Challenger circuit and ITF circuit for the remainder of 2016 and early 2017.
In July 2017, after going through qualifying at the Atlanta Open, he defeated seventh seed and 53rd-ranked Chung Hyeon in three sets. He then went on to defeat Malek Jaziri in three sets to advance to his first ATP tour level quarterfinal. Then he was defeated by third seed Gilles Müller.Following his performance in Atlanta, Tommy was awarded a wildcard into the ATP 500 Washington Open. Paul defeated Casper Ruud to advance to the second round. He then played Lucas Pouille and achieved the biggest win of his career, defeating the Frenchman in straight sets. In the next round, he faced Gilles Müller again, but this time came out on top in three sets to reach his first ATP 500 quarterfinal. There he faced Kei Nishikori and lost in three sets.
In September 2019, Paul broke into the top 100 for the first time in his career having won his second ATP Challenger title of the year in New Haven, after winning in Sarasota earlier on in the season.
Playing style
Paul possesses a strong attacking forehand and solid footwork along the baseline and speed coming into net, attributes that have allowed him success on clay surfaces.
Paul is currently coached by Brad Stine.
Junior Grand Slam finals
Singles: 2 (1–1)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 2015 | French Open | Clay | Taylor Fritz | 7–6, 2–6, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 2015 | US Open | Hard | Taylor Fritz | 2–6, 7–6, 2–6 |
Doubles: 1 (0–1)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 2015 | French Open | Clay | William Blumberg | Álvaro López San Martín Jaume Munar |
4–6, 2–6 |
Challenger and Futures finals
Singles: 15 (10–5)
| Titles by Surface |
|---|
| Legend (Singles) |
| ATP Challenger Tour (4–2) |
| ITF Futures Tour (6–3) |
| Titles by Surface |
| Hard (4–3) |
| Clay (6–2) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| ATP Challenger Tour (4–2) |
| ITF Futures Tour (6–3) |
| Hard (4–3) |
| Clay (6–2) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | May 2015 | Spain F13, Valldoreix | Futures | Clay | Albert Alcaraz Ivorra | 2–6, 6–4, 6–4 | |
| Win | May 2015 | Italy F11, Lecco | Futures | Clay | Lorenzo Sonego | 6–1, 6–4 | |
| Loss | Nov 2015 | Charlottesville, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) | Noah Rubin | 6–3, 6–7, 3–6 | |
| Win | Jan 2016 | USA F3, Plantation | Futures | Clay | Adrien Puget | 7–6, 6–0 | |
| Win | Jan 2016 | USA F4, Sunrise | Futures | Clay | Adrien Puget | 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 | |
| Win | Feb 2017 | USA F6, Palm Coast | Futures | Clay | Renta Tokuda | 6–3, 4–6, 6–3 | |
| Loss | Mar 2017 | USA F9, Orlando | Futures | Clay | Dominik Köpfer | 6–4, 3–6, 5–7 | |
| Win | Jun 2017 | USA F19, Winston-Salem | Futures | Hard | Christopher Eubanks | 6–4, 6–4 | |
| Loss | Jul 2017 | USA F21, Tulsa | Futures | Hard | Christian Harrison | 6–3, 2–6, 1–6 | |
| Loss | Jun 2018 | USA F15, Winston-Salem | Futures | Hard | Michael Redlicki | 3–6, 6–3, 1–6 | |
| Win | Nov 2018 | Charlottesville, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) | Peter Polansky | 6–2, 6–2 | |
| Win | Apr 2019 | Sarasota, USA | Challenger | Clay | Tennys Sandgren | 6–3, 6–4 | |
| Loss | Apr 2019 | Tallahassee, USA | Challenger | Clay | Emilio Gomez | 2–6, 2–6 | |
| Win | Sep 2019 | New Haven, USA | Challenger | Hard | Marcos Giron | 6–3, 6–3 | |
| Win | Sep 2019 | Tiburon, USA | Challenger | Hard | Thanasi Kokkinakis | 7–5, 6–7, 6–4 |
Doubles: 3 (2–1)
| Titles by Surface |
|---|
| Legend (Doubles) |
| ATP Challenger Tour (2–0) |
| ITF Futures Tour (0–1) |
| Titles by Surface |
| Hard (2–1) |
| Clay (0–0) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| ATP Challenger Tour (2–0) |
| ITF Futures Tour (0–1) |
| Hard (2–1) |
| Clay (0–0) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Jul 2017 | USA F21, Tulsa | Futures | Hard | Nathan Ponwith | Austin Krajicek Jackson Withrow |
4–6, 2–6 | |
| Win | Jan 2018 | Playford, Australia | Challenger | Hard | Mackenzie McDonald | Maverick Banes Jason Kubler |
7–6, 6–4 | |
| Win | Sep 2018 | Columbus, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) | Peter Polansky | Gonzalo Escobar Roberto Quiroz |
6–3, 6–3 |
Singles performance timeline
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | NH |
Current through the 2019 Paris Masters.
| Tournament | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | SR | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | Q2 | Q2 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
| French Open | A | Q2 | A | A | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | |
| Wimbledon | A | Q1 | A | A | Q3 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
| US Open | 1R | Q1 | 1R | A | Q2 | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | |
| Win–Loss | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0 / 3 | 0–3 |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 | ||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | Q2 | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
| Miami Open | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | |
| Monte-Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
| Madrid Open | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
| Italian Open | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
| Canadian Open | A | A | A | A | 2R | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | |
| Cincinnati Masters | Q1 | A | 2R | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | |
| Shanghai Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
| Paris Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0 / 3 | 2–3 |
| Career statistics | ||||||||
| Overall Win–Loss | 0–1 | 1–4 | 6–4 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 11–15 | |
| Year-end ranking | 276 | 282 | 152 | 202 | 90 | 42% | ||