Tommy Paul's slow but steady learning process has taken him to the Wimbledon quarterfinals

When I first wrote about Tommy Paul in 2019, he had already won a junior Grand Slam title (Roland Garros, in 2015), but the 22-year-old was falling behind his American peers, including Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe. Paul wasn’t bothered that his compatriots were basking in the ATP’s Next Gen shine while he languished with a ranking of No. 133. Paul’s USTA coach at the time, Diego Moyano, told me, “[Tommy] has a good heart. He likes for his friends to do well. But we got to the point now where he’s thinking, ‘Hey, I belong to that group. I have that level, why am I not there?’ ”

Tommy Paul is now officially there. On Tuesday he will meet No. 3 seed and defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, on Centre Court, hoping to extend his grass-court win streak to 10 matches.

“I don't really care,” Paul said, referring to his upcoming court assignment. “I just came here to play tennis. I don't care what court they put me on.”

At 27, Paul is a slow learner, but he seems to have the maturity and fire in the belly of an elite competitor. This hasn’t come as naturally to him as it has for so many players, from imperious champions like Pete Sampras or Jimmy Connors to unbreakable U.S. journeymen like Michael Russell or Tim Wilkison. But Paul is a throwback to a kinder, gentler time, an era when more rascals were afoot, and the pros were less tightly wound and fiercely focused, less ‘professional’—to use a word that has become high praise.

It’s awful nice to still have guys like Paul around. He’ll be the first to tell you that his status as a Grand Slam contender was slow to emerge. A charismatic, laconic player with superb athleticism and a silken, almost delicate game, he’s a little bit Huck Finn, a little bit Roger Federer. Paul is well-liked in the locker room—he’s the proverbial “great guy”—and that means something to him.

When Paul was asked by a reporter the other day where he fell on the “radar” in and out of the locker room, he replied:

“I feel like I have a pretty good presence in the locker room. I think I'm liked by most of the guys, and I think I'm respected by almost all of the guys. For me that's the most important thing. In terms of other things, I don't really know. I mean, I guess that's up to you guys, or the people who are tennis fans if they think I'm worthy or not. I'm happy just going about my business.”

Paul goes about that business with a deadly if light touch. Alexander Bublik, his third-round opponent, reached into his ample bag of tricks to pull out a few underarm serves, a ploy some players consider devious. Paul said he finds the tactic funny, and he likes to watch people get frustrated by it. Bublik even tried one a critical break point, but Paul smacked it away for a winner.

“If people are going to do it on break points,” he said, laughing. “I'm not going to be upset.”

Winning matches at Wimbledon is ultimately serious business, and Paul has developed a nuanced understanding of the game. Turning thoughtful about those underarm serves, he said: “When he (an opponent) is about to serve, it's easy to kind of tell yourself to relax and then get ready to go again. But with Bublik, when he is serving, I mean, you have to keep your eyes on him at all times. You actually cannot take your eyes off of him. After the first (underarm) one, for the rest of the match I kind of started with one foot in front, just kind of ready to go. But if I saw him go into the (overhead) motion, I would go back into the lateral stance ready to hit a normal return. It was in my head for the rest of the match.”

That kind of attentiveness to the game, coupled with Paul’s increased maturity, has enabled him to become a smart grass-court player. He’s learned to manage his expectations and pace himself, match after match. He took his title run at Queen's Club in stride, and retained his momentum in the Big Show. While blithe as ever, he’s been keenly aware of the challenge to build on his recent performance.

“You want to come in like, ‘Okay, it's (Wimbledon) just another tournament. But you also want to take that confidence from the week before, and come in with that. You have to come in humble and be ready to compete from the jump.”

Paul said that lesson was driven home when he survived a five-set, second-round clash with Otto Virtanen—a match during which he almost took his eye off the ball.

“He played awesome tennis,” Paul reported. “I had to be ready for that. Luckily I was to a point, you know. But he almost got me.”

Paul's destiny as a contender on grass was not written in the tea leaves. He developed his game off the tennis grid on green Har-Tru clay at what was in effect a family tennis center in Greenville, N.C. On one of his first visits to the USTA’s National Training Center in Orlando, Fla., the incipient junior Roland Garros champion did not even know that the pros wore specially designed clay-court shoes. He was told he’d better get hold of some.

“It was the first time I heard there was such a thing,” Paul told me back then. “I got some and it was like, ‘Wow, there’s so much more grip now.’”

You have to come in humble and be ready to compete from the jump. Tommy Paul on Wimbledon

The anecdote speaks to Paul’s innate talent, and how quickly he was able to convert it to success on a court that was still relatively new to him. After a lengthy seasoning period during which his talent and production have come into sync without altering his personality, he’s undergone a similar process on grass.

“Yeah,” he said after the Bublik match. “I mean, I'm having fun on the grass. I like it. I mean, every time I play on it, I feel more and more comfortable.”

Paul may be a slow learner, but it’s hard to hold that against a light-hearted but gifted All-American boy.