French Open: Tommy Paul is the first American man in the quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003
PARIS — Tommy Paul became the first American man in the French Open quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003, beating 25th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in less than two hours Sunday.
The 28-year-old Paul, who is seeded 12th at Roland-Garros, was coming off consecutive five-set victories but breezed to this victory, helped by saving 9 of 10 break points he faced while coverting all but one of the six he accumulated.
Both Paul and Popyrin won junior singles titles on the red clay in Paris, with the American's coming a decade ago.
Paul, who was a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2023 on hard courts and a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year on grass courts, is now the only active U.S. man to reach the final eight at Grand Slam tournaments on three surfaces.
There haven't been multiple U.S. men in the French Open quarterfinals since 1996, when Jim Courier and Pete Sampras both made it that far. Agassi was the last from the country in the men's semifinals at the French Open when he won the championship in 1999 to complete a career Grand Slam.
Later Sunday, No. 13 Ben Shelton and No. 15 Frances Tiafoe played their fourth-round matches with a chance to join Paul in the quarterfinals. Shelton's opponent was defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, while Tiafoe faced Daniel Altmaier of Germany.
Five American women reached the fourth round this year, with No. 16 Amanda Anisimova taking on No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Sunday. Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys and Hailey Baptiste are scheduled to play for quarterfinal berths on Monday.
More tennis: /hub/tennis
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Van Rooyen, Leishman earn spots at Oakmont in final US Open qualifiying
South African Erik van Rooyen and Australian Marc Leishman were among those who earned berths at Oakmont next week from US Open final 36-hole qualifiers on Monday. Van Rooyen fired rounds of 64 and 67 to finish first on 13-under 131 at Kinsale Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio, with Americans Bud Cauley, Justin Lower and Lanto Griffin sharing second on 137 and countryman Harrison Ott on 138. That left a five-man playoff for the final available US Open berth, a fight that included US PGA Tour players Max Homa, Rickie Fowler, Eric Cole and Cameron Young plus compatriot Chase Johnson. Young won the spot with a birdie on the first playoff hole. Homa was notable as the only player carrying his own bag through the all-day affair. Van Rooyen, 35, missed the cut in his last three US Open starts over the past four years after making his best finish, a share of 23rd, in 2020. He is a two-time PGA Tour winner, most recently at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 2023, and was a runner-up at last month's CJ Cup Byron Nelson tournament. At Woodmont in suburban Washington, Americans Ryan McCormack and Trevor Cone took the lead, claiming two US Open spots. That left a three-way playoff for two final US Open spots between Australian Marc Leishman, Colombian Sebastian Munoz from LIV Golf and American Bryan Lee. Leishman, who won his first LIV Golf title in April at Miami, and Lee parred the first two extra holes and booked their berths at Oakmont when Munoz lipped out a par putt to make bogey on the second playoff hole. At Lambton in York, Canada, it was American Kevin Velo setting the pace but six others joined him including Danes Niklas Norgaard and Thorbjorn Olesen, England's Matt Wallace, Argentina's Emiliano Grillo, American Mark Hubbard and France's Victor Perez. Americans James Nicholas and Chris Gotterup led four qualifiers at Canoe Brook in Summit, New Jersey, with Mexico's Roberto Diaz and US amateur Ben James taking the last spots. American Zach Bauchou led qualifiers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, with Mexicans Alvaro Ortiz and Emilio Gonzalez and American Alistair Docherty one stroke back to also qualify. js/st
India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Norway Chess: Calm after the storm, Magnus Carlsen praises Gukesh's fighting skills
A day after his dramatic defeat to D Gukesh in Round 6 of the Norway Chess tournament, Magnus Carlsen acknowledged the world champion's 'energy' and 'fighting qualities', conceding that on a normal day, he would have won the 34, had dominated the game in Round 6 for the most part but eventually blundered under time pressure, handing the victory to the 19-year-old Indian on Sunday, June 1. Visibly frustrated, the five-time world champion banged the table with his fist, causing the pieces to scatter. He later shook hands with Gukesh, reset the board and walked away, patting the think, like, I remember being that age myself, and sometimes kind of your energy, like fighting qualities, and just the optimism is sometimes, you know, bigger than the quality of your moves,' Carlsen said on Monday. 'So, I think, for a long time he (Gukesh) was just more or less blindly pushing. And then, yeah, on a normal day, of course, I win that game, and things look quite differently,' Carlsen praised Gukesh's resilience and willingness to seize the moment despite being in a difficult position for most of their Round 6 match, which turned out to be an epic endgame.'What he (Gukesh) does well, as I alluded to, is he really fights very, very well, and he was there to take his chance, so he deserves credit for that. But that's the kind of chance that I really, really have to put away. Otherwise, I have no chance,' Carlsen Susan Polgar called it one of the most painful losses in Carlsen's decorated career and the Norwegian's body language in Round 7 on Monday told the was more composed after his Round 7 Armageddon tie-break victory over American world No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura, but the scars from Sunday were MORE CLASSICAL FOR CARLSEN?Carlsen once again reflected on his future in Classical Chess, saying he would rather endure the pain of losing in a format that he loves.'I think I'll play the last three games (in Norway Chess), and then I will have to make some decisions about next year here or potential other tournaments later, because, yeah, I just don't enjoy (Classical chess) that much,' he asked directly if he was contemplating stepping back from classical events, Carlsen did not rule it out: 'It's possible, yeah. I'm not going to sit here and say that I'm not going to play Classical events ever again, but right now it doesn't.'He added: 'The thing is that, you know, losses are painful no matter what, but at least if I can lose doing something that I really enjoy (Blitz, Rapid or Freestyle), then that's much easier. It's not that I cannot play (Classical chess), it's just situations like yesterday (loss to Gukesh) I'm just wondering, like, why am I doing this? What's the point?'In Round 7, Carlsen and American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura agreed to a 21-move draw in classical format before the Norwegian prevailed in the Armageddon InTrending Reel
India Today
3 hours ago
- India Today
French Open: Calm outside, storm within, Jannik Sinner powers into quarters
Jannik Sinner continued to showcase his growing prowess on clay, as the World No. 1 secured a commanding win over 17th seed Andrey Rublev in the fourth round of the French Open on Monday, June 2. Sinner played flawless tennis under the lights at Philippe-Chatrier, needing just two hours to dismantle Rublev 6-1, 6-3, reached his third Roland Garros quarterfinal. The Italian, who won the US Open last year and the Australian Open earlier this year, has matched Andre Aggasi and Boris Becker in the list of men with most successive wins in Grand Slams in the Open Era -- Open Day 9 Highlights Sinner displayed a monk-like calm on court, never flinching during a sensational performance against Rublev, one of the tour's most powerful hitters. The Italian faced two break points in the opening game and it was the only moment he looked remotely vulnerable. With his breathtaking groundstrokes, Sinner neutralised the threat and raced through the first set in just 30 there, Sinner did not give an inch. Rublev had no answers to the Italian's mastery on Chatrier, losing the second set 3-6. Though Rublev attempted to raise his level in the third in a bid to extend the contest, he managed only four games before Sinner found the decisive break and closed out a straight-sets struck 25 winners, just one more than Rublev. But the key difference lay in the unforced errors: Rublev racked up 39, 20 more than the Italian. Pressured to produce something extraordinary, Rublev's best simply wasn't enough on the night. Sinner won 81 percent of points on his first serve and 69 percent on his second, while Rublev could manage only 29 percent success on his second asked how he maintains such a zen-like demeanour on court, Sinner admitted it's not quite as it seems.'Absolutely not true,' Sinner said, when asked if he's naturally calm. 'Inside, there's a storm going on. But tennis is a very mental game — you try to show nothing to your opponent. I try to understand how my opponent is feeling. Early in my career, the storm was also on the outside. I'm happy with how I'm handling situations now,' he STUNS DRAPER IN FOUR SETSSinner will next face Alexander Bublik, who became the first Kazakh player to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final in men's singles. Bublik delivered a stunning performance to knock out 5th seed Jack Draper in the fourth round on 27-year-old, ranked World No. 62, was visibly emotional as he was cheered on by his wife at Chatrier. Though he struggled slightly to close out the match in his final service game, Bublik held his nerve to seal the win in four sets and avoid a deciding getting emotional after his huge win #RolandGarros Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2025The result marked a major upset, as Draper had been considered one of the tournament's dark horses, tipped by John McEnroe to make a deep run at Roland in life there's only one chance. I had a feeling that was mine and I couldn't let it slip. Standing here it's the best moment of my life,' Bublik in the day, Novak Djokovic claimed his 100th win at Roland Garros, setting up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with Alexander Zverev.
