Tommy Paul starts mini viral trend of holding things

Last week, Tommy Paul kicked off his own viral social media challenge. The 21-year-old just started #holdingthings, and it took off... at least in the men's American tennis world.

The 2015 junior French Open champion posted pictures of himself on his Instagram story holding things with the hashtag "#meholdingthings". He held all kinds of household items like a bunch of bananas, a bottle of lotion, sunscreen, a wireless speaker and a gallon of milk.

Maybe he accidentally started the challenge by trying to be witty with an open Gatorade bottle captioned “no cap”, which is a popular slang/millennial term meaning “no lie”. Whatever the reason, his friends took notice and wanted in on the #holdingthings challenge.

Taylor Fritz held a laptop, Cameron Norrie held a jump rope and Peter Polansky held a Nespresso pod.

Tommy reposted all of these #Holdingthings posts on his Instagram story, creating a long chain reaction of people holding random objects.

Mackenzie McDonald held a flashlight. France Tiafoe's twin Franklin held a football. Shelby Rogers' coach Marc Lucero held the book Becoming Michelle Obama. USTA national coach Diego Moyano held a 25-pound weight. Tennis commentator Mike Cation held a microphone.

Just like that, Paul got seemingly everyone in the men's American professional tennis community united for his #Holdingthings challenge.

Last year, Paul reached a career-high ranking of No. 149 and won his first ATP Challenger title, but was plagued by a right elbow injury. In Houston this week, the world No. 204 was playing just his third event of 2019 and lost in the first round of qualifying to Henri Laaksonen.