ROLAND GARROS

June 1, 2025

Tommy Paul

Press Conference

T. PAUL/A. Popyrin

6-3, 6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Tommy, what's going on with your relationship with clay?

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, we're having a great time. I'm enjoying it a lot. It was nice to get a straight-sets win today, give the body a little rest.

I mean, as much as I love the five-setters, I definitely like the three-setters a little bit better. Yeah, just excited for more matches.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Was there something different about your game today that allowed it to be such a business-like performance or your body, or was it the opponent that made it less than four hours?

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah. I think today it could have been a very different match. He had, I think, ten break points and only broke that first game of the match.

There were a lot of times where I was down Love-40 or 15-40 on my serve. Those are games that can change the match easily, some of those for him to go up a break, some of those for him to get back on serve with me.

I ended up winning those points and holding serve in those games, and that really can change a match. So it could have easily been a battle again, but luckily, I mean, I clutched up on those points.

Q. Just in terms of feeling the ball more consistently or tactically or anything like that, just sort of...

TOMMY PAUL: I mean, they're all different players that I've played, so every match is tactically pretty different. Yeah, I thought I returned better today. I put more returns in the court. At the end of the day, in men's tennis, it's the serve. Holding serve is, like, the biggest thing. That was something I did well today.

Q. On a surface where the free points on serve you might get with a hard court, let's say, or grass don't come, what is the key for you to locking it down when you are facing all these holes on your serve?

TOMMY PAUL: So I think on the clay, like you said, you don't get free points as much on your first serve, but you do get punished more on your second serve, so it's pretty important to have a high percentage of first serves.

Even today there were times where I felt like I wasn't putting in a ton of first serves, but to back that up, I think the first couple of balls, not putting yourself in a defensive position was very important for me today. If you guys watched, once he got on offense, it was tough to get out of defense for me.

So that was a main goal for me is to really, off the first ball, hit a ball to where I can stay neutral or get on offense. I mean, I thought I did a pretty decent job of that.

Q. Could you talk about your work with Brad and how he's helped you over the years? I presume you're still working with him.

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah.

Q. How has he helped your game on court and also off court?

TOMMY PAUL: Ah, I mean, I could talk about a million different things, but every year we have, like, one kind of thing that we really focus on, I mean, along with a million others. But I think Brad has been the most important piece in my game. Like for me to be where I'm at today, he was the one who really pushed me to get there. I can't say enough nice things about him as a guy or as a coach.

I don't know, he just has a really good tennis IQ. He sees stuff that I don't even feel when I'm on court, and we take that to the practice court. I trust him wholeheartedly on everything that he sees when I play.

We'll have arguments every now and then, but for the most part, I mean, he's spot on.

Q. The key thing you're focusing on this year with Brad?

TOMMY PAUL: The key thing is always getting to the net more, playing more aggressive. Obviously on clay it's a little tougher just because of your court position, you're so much farther back. Every clay court season we've been adjusting and figuring out where is the best position for me to start points and play points.

I mean, we've really moved back. I'm stepping way farther back on the court and extending points and kind of using my off-court work more on the clay and using my body and using my legs. I guess just, yeah, using that.

Q. I saw that you like fishing. This activity helps you on your tennis on the court. I don't know, maybe it brings you more serenity or not?

TOMMY PAUL: I get a lot of questions about the connection between the two, but I don't know. For me it's just like a getaway. When I'm fishing, I'm not thinking about tennis. Sometimes when I'm playing tennis, I'm thinking about fishing, but (laughing)...

Yeah, when I'm out there, it's like a complete separation from my job, from tennis. I think that's really healthy.

Q. What are you thinking about with the fishing when you're on court?

TOMMY PAUL: Anything. Right now it's like the prime time season in South Florida for fishing, so I'm seeing a lot of great fish get caught while I'm away, and it's kind of breaking my heart. At least some people are catching them, right?

Q. Have you bumped into Ben since you've walked off court since he's next up?

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, I saw him in the training room right after. I was going to take my tape off. Yeah, he was in there. He's in good spirits. What did you want to know about him?

Q. Did he say anything to you, or did you try and pump him up? Does that happen? Or do you guys just leave each other alone before matches?

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, I mean, he dabbed me up, like, Great job. I saw him and his dad. They're great.

I saw Foe, too. It's the same thing. I tell them, All right, I did my part. Now it's your turn, you know?

I want all three of us in the quarterfinals. It would be amazing for American tennis to have all three of us there.

Q. Specifically with Ben, what would that be like out there together, here in particular, playing each other for a semifinals spot?

TOMMY PAUL: It would be awesome. It's just a tennis court, you know? I mean, give us anywhere, and we'll play a great match, I'm convinced. I think it's more for the people who are U.S. tennis supporters that really want to see that.

We want to win. We want to play each other. He wants to beat me; I want to beat him. We don't care where we play, anything like that. We're competitive guys, but U.S. tennis hasn't seen this in a while, so I'm excited about that.

Q. If I can ask, if we pretend for a moment that it's not him, if you could kind of size up the matchup against Carlos?

TOMMY PAUL: We played actually here not even a year ago at the Olympics. I felt like I played a decent match. I know a lot of things that I could have done better, and I had a couple of set points I think in the second set and ended up losing in straights.

Obviously the guy can play amazing tennis here, I mean, defending champion and everything. I think we would go into the match with some good, new ideas.