It felt like Tommy Paul’s season had been slowly building towards a really top result before all his momentum was halted at Wimbledon.
After all, the American had reached the quarter-finals of both the Australian Open and Roland Garros, despite failing to win an ATP title elsewhere.
He is an elite-level player capable of troubling the very best on tour, but fell victim to the inexplicable number of early-round exits at the All-England Club, losing in just the second round.
We have since learned that his failure to impress was tied to a foot injury, which later required him to wear a cast.
Now, ahead of the US Open, he has delivered a fitness update.
Tommy Paul reveals injury heartbreak
Speaking with Flashscore, the 28-year-old first touched on the difficulties he has faced this year.
“This year has been a little different than most,” he began. “I’ve been dealing with a little bit of injury in my foot at Wimbledon, so kind of had a little bit of recovery to do for that, so I sat out of a couple tournaments in the States.
“It breaks my heart, because I love nothing more than playing tennis in the States, in front of US fans. It’s a lot of the reason that I play. I absolutely love it, so to miss it, it really sucked.”
And yet, despite this heartbreak, Paul insists he is now fitter than ever: “The foot is actually amazing,” says Paul. “The foot’s never felt better. It’s literally the best it’s felt in five years. I’m pretty pumped about that.
“I went into a boot for a couple weeks after Wimbledon. When you go into a boot, your ankle kind of gets very tight because of the mobility, it’s not mobile at all. It’s just really getting the mobility back and everything.
“I wouldn’t say I’m in much pain. I would just say really trying to get the strength around the ankle and around the foot back is what we’re most focused on right now.”
This comes after Tommy Paul revealed what he finds most ‘crazy’ about the ATP Tour.
Tommy Paul’s best-ever result at the US Open
As touched upon earlier, Tommy Paul had performed admirably at the majors this year before his Wimbledon disaster.
However, for whatever reason, the US Open has historically been his worst-performing Grand Slam.
In the other three, he has reached at least the quarter-finals, having even made the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 2023.
Photo by Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images
And yet, last year’s fourth-round run in New York tied his best-ever performance; a feat he will certainly be hoping to surpass this year.