Tommy Paul joins exclusive American men’s club with Roland Garros milestone
Tommy Paul broke new ground with his win over Alexei Popyrin at the French Open as he emulated a couple of American tennis greats with his run to the quarter-final.
After going the distance against Marton Fucsovics and Karen Khachanov as he claimed five-set wins, Paul for once had an easier afternoon as he defeated Popyrin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 52 minutes in the last 16.
With the win, he unlocked his Grand Slam surface quarter-final achievement as he has now reached the last eight on grass, hard courts and clay. Paul made it to the semi-final of the Australian Open in 2023 and the quarters at Wimbledon last year.
Interestingly, he is yet to reach the last eight at his home major as he has fallen in the fourth round a couple of times at the US Open.
However, the focus is very much on Roland Garros and with his latest win he became the first American man since Andre Agassi in 2003 to reach the quarter-final of the French Open.
The 28-year-old, who is projected to climb to a new career high of No 8 in the ATP Rankings after the clay-court major, is also the second-oldest American man in the Open Era to reach a maiden quarter-final at Roland Garros with only Frank Froehling (29 years and two days) in 1971 older.
Paul becomes No 9
Paul is just the ninth American man in the Open Era to secure the surface Grand Slam achievement by reaching the quarters on the three different surfaces.
1977 Australian Open winner Vitas Gerulaitis and Brian Gottfried, who finished runner-up at the 1977 French Open, both completed the milestone in 1978.
The following year Jimmy Connors joined the club as he made it to the semi-final of the French Open, having already won Grand Slams at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
John McEnroe made it a four-man club in 1981 with clay also the last surface to tick off as he made it to the last four at Roland Garros.
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Ten years later, Jim Courier achieved the surface quarter-final feat in one year as he won the 1991 French Open, reached the quarter-final at Wimbledon and finished runner-up at the US Open.
Unsurprisingly, grass was the last surface where Andre Agassi reached the quarter-final as he, of course, boycotted Wimbledon for several years, but he made it to the last eight in 1991, having already finished runner-up at the French Open and US Open.
The great Pete Sampras won the US Open in 1994 (hard) then reached the quarter-final at the French Open (clay) and Wimbledon (grass) in 1992 while Michael Chang completed his list in 1994 when he reached the last eight at Wimbledon.
It would take another 20-plus years for someone new to join the club with Paul achieving it in 2025.
