The Biofile: Tommy Paul

Tommy Paul has established himself as one of the fastest-rising players on the ATP Tour.

The American has jumped more than 30 spots this season in the FedEx ATP Rankings to a career-high standing of No. 57. His 2020 highlights include advancing to his maiden ATP Tour semi-final in Adelaide, achieving his best Grand Slam result with a third-round finish at the Australian Open and scoring his first Top 10 win against Alexander Zverev in Acapulco.

Paul shares some of his tennis memories in this Biofile with Scoop Malinowski.

Tennis Inspirations: Andy Roddick. Straight up, favourite player.

First Tennis Memory: Probably at the Athletic Club Courtside in Greensboro, North Carolina, where I grew up. I saw all the old people out there playing doubles. I was like, ‘All right, I’m gonna get out there and do that.’ And then I remember trying to play out there [at age six]. It didn’t really go too great the first time.

Nicknames: T-Paul.

Most Painful Moment: Definitely had some losses. Maybe like three summers ago. I played a few [ITF] Futures tournaments and I lost in the first round on one of them. That was coming back from one of my injuries. That was pretty painful to me in my career.

First Famous Player You Met Or Encountered: Paul Goldstein at the US Open.

Last Book Read: I actually read Tim Tebow’s book not that long ago. I have trouble finishing books. I probably read three books at a time, but I’ll read about 20 pages and then switch to the next book [laughs]. I’m not too good at finishing one.

Funniest Players Encountered: All my friends that we hang out with are really funny – Reilly Opelka, Taylor Fritz.

Strangest Match: I played against Denis Kudla and we played a three-set match – 6-2, 0-6, 6-0. It was a pretty strange match.

Why Do You Love Playing Tennis: I’ve always loved it since I was little. I’ve loved how competitive it is and one-on-one, gotta find a way to win.

Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Vanilla.

Embarrassing Tennis Memory: Probably swinging and missing at a ball and getting really embarrassed.

Best You Ever Felt On Court: At some point in the 2017 Citi Open. I beat Casper Ruud, Lucas Pouille and Gilles Muller, and then I was up a set and a break on Kei Nishikori. Blew it. Ended up losing that match [laughs]. That was tough. That was some of my best tennis, I think.

Favourite Sport Outside Tennis: NFL football to watch, basketball to play.

People Qualities Most Admired: I like funny people, sarcastic. I think sarcasm is so funny.

Courtesy of Scoop Malinowski, tennis-prose.com. Scoop is the author of “Facing Andy Murray”, “Facing Marat Safin”, “Facing Sampras”, “Facing McEnroe”, “Facing Nadal”, “Facing Hewitt”, “Facing Federer” and “Marcelo Rios: The Man We Barely Knew,” all available on Amazon.