Paul joins Agassi, McEnroe, Sampras & Co. on exclusive list following Roland Garros win

Tommy Paul broke new ground on Sunday at Roland Garros, where he reached the quarter-finals at the clay-court major for the first time.

The American earned battling five-set wins against Marton Fucsovics and Karen Khachanov earlier this week but found the going easier against Alexei Popyrin, dispatching the Australian 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 52 minutes.

"I'm enjoying it a lot," Paul said when asked about competing on clay. "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. I am just excited for more matches."

Paul has now reached the last eight at three of the four majors, advancing to the semi-finals at the Australian Open in 2023 and the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2024. The 28-year-old is just the ninth American man in the Open Era and only active American to advance to Grand Slam quarter-finals on all three surfaces. He joins Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Jimmy Connors, Jim Courier, Vitas Gerulaitis, Brian Gottfried, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras.

Tommy Paul keeps powering through 👊🔥

He sails past Popyrin 6-3 6-3 6-3… @rolandgarros #tommypaul #rolandgarros pic.twitter.com/f3iVhCItDe

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 1, 2025

Aiming to reach the last four in Paris, the 12th seed will next face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or countryman Ben Shelton. Paul trails Alcaraz 2-4 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and is tied at 2-2 with Shelton.

Paul saved 90 per cent (9/10) of the break points he faced against Popyrin, stuck 27 winners to the Australian's 18 and committed 15 fewer unforced errors (22-37) than the World No. 25, according to Infosys Stats.

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Paul is now 12-3 on clay this season, having reached the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome last month. The four-time tour-level titlist is currently No. 8 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

Popyrin had not dropped a set en route to reaching the fourth round in the French capital for the first time. The 25-year-old is up four spots to No. 21 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

Did You Know?
Paul is the first American man to reach the quarter-finals at Roland Garros since Agassi in 2003.