{"id":98942,"date":"2025-05-13T20:18:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T20:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/98942\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T20:18:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T20:18:09","slug":"tommy-paul-pinpoints-two-areas-of-his-game-hes-really-improved-on-clay-this-year-before-the-french-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/98942\/","title":{"rendered":"Tommy Paul pinpoints two areas of his game he&#8217;s really improved on clay this year before the French Open"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Tommy Paul has enjoyed a strong start to his 2025 season and looks to have found another level on the clay.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The American star began his year in fine form when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/news\/alexander-zverev-reacts-to-breaking-boris-becker-record-at-the-australian-open-after-beating-tommy-paul\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paul reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open<\/a>, where he came up short against Alexander Zverev.<\/p>\n<p>Paul broke into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/atp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ATP<\/a> top ten as a result of his run in Melbourne, peaking at a career high of ninth.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"716\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2194016640-1024x716.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by Quinn Rooney\/Getty Images\" class=\"wp-image-67243\" \/>Photo by Quinn Rooney\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>On clay, he has made a solid start, reaching the semi-finals in Houston, before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/news\/jack-draper-explains-why-he-was-really-fired-up-to-play-against-tommy-paul-in-their-fourth-round-match-at-the-madrid-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paul lost to Jack Draper<\/a> in the fourth round of the Madrid Open.<\/p>\n<p>Having reached the fourth round again, this time at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/italian-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Italian Open<\/a>, Paul highlighted the two areas of his game that have improved the most on the surface in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Tommy Paul says his movement and power have improved on clay in 2025<\/p>\n<p>Appearing on the Tennis Channel following his third-round win over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/tomas-machac\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tomas Machac<\/a>, Paul reflected on his clay-court improvements.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like I am moving well. I feel like I moved well last year, but I am moving forward and back a lot better,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/tommy-paul\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paul<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am stepping back and lifting forehands a lot better, I think this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe I am hitting a little heavier. For me, I think the serve is so important. I have to serve well if I want to do well on any surface, and that\u2019s definitely the goal this week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul beat Roberto Bautista Agut in his opener before taking down Czech star Machac in a thrilling third-round clash.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"inline-links multi\">\n<li>2025 Italian Open 3R \u2013 Tommy Paul beat Tomas Machac, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4<\/li>\n<li>2025 Italian Open 2R \u2013 Tommy Paul beat Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-1, 6-4<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The 27-year-old has produced two impressive serving performances in his opening two matches, winning over 75% of points behind his first serve on both occasions.<\/p>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Match<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Aces<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Double faults<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>1st Serve %<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Win % on first serve<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Win % on second serve<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3R v Tomas Machac<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>0<\/td>\n<td>58%<\/td>\n<td>77%<\/td>\n<td>52%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2R v Roberto Bautista Agut<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>0<\/td>\n<td>49%<\/td>\n<td>86%<\/td>\n<td>61%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p>Tommy Paul\u2019s serving stats at the 2025 Italian Open<\/p>\n<p>Paul will no doubt hope to produce another stellar serving display when he takes on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/alex-de-minaur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alex de Minaur<\/a> in the fourth round.<\/p>\n<p>Tommy Paul prepares for \u2018revenge match\u2019 against Alex de Minaur in Rome<\/p>\n<p>The American star went on to explain why he\u2019ll need to be serving at his best during his Italian Open last-16 match.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a tough one in the next match, I know if I am not serving well, I am going to get broken, for sure,\u201d said Paul.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2212798076-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by Ion Alcoba Beitia\/Getty Images\" \/>Photo by Ion Alcoba Beitia\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Alex] De Minaur is a great player. We have had some wars also, and I have not gotten him so a little revenge match again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul is yet to beat De Minaur in five attempts, a record he is more than aware of ahead of their sixth career meeting.<\/p>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Match<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Winner<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Loser<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Score<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2023 Los Cabos \u2013 QF<\/td>\n<td>Alex de Minaur<\/td>\n<td>Tommy Paul<\/td>\n<td>6-4, 3-6, 6-3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2023 Acapulco \u2013 F<\/td>\n<td>Alex de Minaur<\/td>\n<td>Tommy Paul<\/td>\n<td>3-6, 6-4, 6-1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2022 Eastbourne \u2013 QF<\/td>\n<td>Alex de Minaur<\/td>\n<td>Tommy Paul<\/td>\n<td>6-2, 4-6, 6-4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2022 Italian Open \u2013 2R<\/td>\n<td>Alex de Minaur<\/td>\n<td>Tommy Paul<\/td>\n<td>7-5, 6-4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2022 Indian Wells \u2013 3R<\/td>\n<td>Alex de Minaur<\/td>\n<td>Tommy Paul<\/td>\n<td>7-6, 6-4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p>Tommy Paul and Alex de Minaur\u2019s head-to-head record<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe talk about it! I am like dude, you are really making me feel bad about it because he has been owning me on the pro tour,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a match I am super motivated for. I want to get my first win against him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have had amazing matches. I have had so many opportunities against him, and hopefully this is the one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Their previous three encounters went to a deciding set, as De Minaur edged past Paul in Eastbourne, Acapulco, and Los Cabos.<\/p>\n<p>Paul\u2019s defeat to De Minaur in the final of the 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/mexican-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mexican Open<\/a> could well be his most devastating of the lot, as he missed out on a chance to win the biggest title of his career, having led by a set to love.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>De Minaur and Paul will be more than aware of what\u2019s at stake this time around, as both players would likely be considered favorites should they advance to the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n<p>The winner of their fourth round match will take on either <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/jakub-mensik\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jakub Mensik<\/a> [20] or Hubert Hurkacz [30] in the last eight.<\/p>\n<p>Hurkacz and Mensik will face off for a place in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, May 13, before Paul takes on De Minaur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tommy Paul has enjoyed a strong start to his 2025 season and looks to have found another level&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[4294,5066,79,1068,23861,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-98942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-atp","9":"tag-french-open","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis","12":"tag-tommy-paul","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114502376197782706","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}