Tommy Paul (tennis)
Tommy Paul 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 the 2017 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.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. 57 achieved on March 2, 2020. 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 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)
Doubles: 1 (0–1)
Challenger and Futures finals
Singles: 15 (10–5)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Spain F13, Valldoreix | Futures | Clay |  Albert Alcaraz Ivorra | 2–6, 6–4, 6–4 | |
| Win | 2–0 | Italy F11, Lecco | Futures | Clay |  Lorenzo Sonego | 6–1, 6–4 | |
| Loss | 2–1 | 2015 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger – Singles| | Charlottesville, USA | Challenger | Hard |  Noah Rubin | 6–3, 6–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 3–1 | USA F3, Plantation | Futures | Clay |  Adrien Puget | 7–6, 6–0 | |
| Win | 4–1 | USA F4, Sunrise | Futures | Clay | Adrien Puget | 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 | |
| Win | 5–1 | USA F6, Palm Coast | Futures | Clay |  Renta Tokuda | 6–3, 4–6, 6–3 | |
| Loss | 5–2 | USA F9, Orlando | Futures | Clay |  Dominik Köpfer | 6–4, 3–6, 5–7 | |
| Win | 6–2 | USA F19, Winston-Salem | Futures | Hard | Christopher Eubanks | 6–4, 6–4 | |
| Loss | 6–3 | USA F21, Tulsa | Futures | Hard | Christian Harrison | 6–3, 2–6, 1–6 | |
| Loss | 6–4 | USA F15, Winston-Salem | Futures | Hard | Michael Redlicki | 3–6, 6–3, 1–6 | |
| Win | 7–4 | 2018 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger – Singles| | Charlottesville, USA | Challenger | Hard |  Peter Polansky | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 8–4 | 2019 Sarasota Open – Singles| | Sarasota, USA | Challenger | Clay | Tennys Sandgren | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 8–5 | 2019 Tallahassee Tennis Challenger – Singles| | Tallahassee, USA | Challenger | Clay |  Emilio Gomez | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 9–5 | 2019 Oracle Challenger Series – New Haven| | New Haven, USA | Challenger | Hard | Marcos Giron | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Win | 10–5 | 2019 Tiburon Challenger| | Tiburon, USA | Challenger | Hard |  Thanasi Kokkinakis | 7–5, 6–7, 6–4 |
Doubles: 3 (2–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | USA F21, Tulsa | Futures | Hard | Nathan Ponwith | Austin Krajicek Jackson Withrow | 4–6, 2–6 | |
| Win | 1–1 | Playford, Australia | Challenger | Hard | Mackenzie McDonald | Maverick Banes Jason Kubler | 7–6, 6–4 | |
| Win | 2–1 | Columbus, USA | Challenger | Hard | Peter Polansky | Gonzalo Escobar Roberto Quiroz | 6–3, 6–3 |