Remember the 2003 US Open final? Andy Roddick stormed past Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets to clinch his maiden GS title, an iconic breakthrough that crowned him top of the rankings. However, since then, no American man has lifted a major, as the European “Big 3” era took over with unrelenting dominance. 24 years later, despite a wave of rising American stars, the drought remains unbroken. Now, Tommy Paul, one of the country’s leading hopes at Roland Garros, has reignited the flame, but not without a dose of truth. His thoughts?
Known for his comfort on clay, the American has had two semi-final appearances in the Italian Open in the last two years. The French Open, however, has been a different ball game for him, as he has never progressed beyond the 3rd round in six previous appearances. But after a QF run at the AO this year, the 28-year-old is determined to make a deep push on the red dirt. And with a confident start to his Paris campaign—a 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 win over Denmark’s Elmer Moller—Paul also reflected on the rise of American men’s tennis amid years of European dominance, sharing a candid take on the road ahead.
Speaking at his post-match press conference at Roland Garros, Tommy Paul was asked whether the American men had closed the gap with their European counterparts, long considered dominant on the ATP Tour. Paul gave a candid assessment, adding, “I think we haven’t closed the gap obviously because no none of us have you know won a slam and you know there’s still a lot of really good Europeans ranked ahead of us. So I wouldn’t say the gap is closed, but I think over the past six years or so, we’ve definitely made it smaller,” he admitted. Paul later also spoke highly of Taylor Fritz’s recent run to the US Open final, acknowledging the spark it gave to American hopes.
Tennis – Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain – July 5, 2024 Tommy Paul of the U.S. celebrates winning his third round match against Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik REUTERS/Paul Childs
“And absolutely in terms of Fritz making the finals of the US Open, we were all pumped to see that, you know, I mean it motivates us. We’ve been hearing our whole lives how US tennis like we haven’t had a Grand Slam champion in so long, so to have him just in the finals there was huge for US tennis huge for him and frankly for all of us. In terms of belief, I mean seeing him there, like I think that we all believe we can be there, and I think it’s great for the sport,” he added.
To put it into context, Fritz became the 1st American man since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon 2009 to reach a GS final. En route, he stunned former runners-up Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev, before falling to top seed Jannik Sinner in straight sets. Even now, the European dominance continues, with Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz splitting the last five Slams, while Novak Djokovic remains in pursuit of his 25th Major.
Meanwhile, Tommy Paul, now into the 2nd round of Roland-Garros, also shared a light-hearted moment, recalling a time his truck got repossessed because of missed payments, a humble reminder of the journey behind the headlines.
Tommy Paul recalls the truck repossession with humor
Just weeks ago at the Italian Open, American Tommy Paul delivered a commanding performance against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, sealing a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win to secure his 2nd consecutive SF appearance in Rome. But while things were smooth on court, the 27-year-old revealed during his post-match press conference that life off the court had its fair share of hiccups.
“On court everything has been going pretty well. Off court, a little bit of a stressful week. I got my truck repossessed. I missed a couple payments and they took my truck from my house this week. I’ve been grinding to get my truck back. If you know me, that’s my baby. Yeah, really grinding to get that back,” Paul said, as quoted by The Tennis Letter. Paul had changed banks but had forgotten to adjust the automatic payments for his truck, a Ford F-150.
Fast forward to the opening round of Roland-Garros, the American revisited his repossession saga, adding another layer to his rollercoaster week. It was when his trainer had asked him to check his security camera footage for any packages that needed to be picked up. And while Paul found that there were no packages, he also found out, to his shock, that his truck was also not there. It was upon going through the footage history that he found out what had transpired. “I’m like, ‘What the hell is going on? There’s a tow truck coming and taking my car!’ I thought it was stolen at first,” Paul added. “I missed, I think it was, like three payments. They came and took it. I didn’t know it happened like that. I didn’t know how quick they would come and grab it — like in the middle of the night.”
Now in the 2nd round, Paul is set to face Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics. Will his strong form continue to carry him deeper into the clay-court Slam? Share your thoughts below!
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