CINCH CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 23, 2024

Tommy Paul

Queens Club

Press Conference

T. PAUL/L. Musetti

6-1, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions for our champion.

Q. Now you are the No. 1 North American in the rankings. Your friend Taylor Fritz has been here all the week. I wonder if you joke about it during the week, you have talked about this?

TOMMY PAUL: Not really. I think we both are kind of on the same page where we both want to be top 10. Obviously it's an honor to become the No. 1 American, but, I mean, we both have big goals and we want to be in the top-10 rankings. That's where both of us want to be. So that's kind of not too many jokes going on, no.

Q. Is it a healthy competition, by the way?

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, definitely. All the Americans are pretty close. We push each other with results, I would say. I mean, it's definitely a healthy competition between us, like, Frances texted me last night and he sent the funniest message, actually. He was, like, "Finish your food," because every time he's playing, he always says, "Eat," kind of like motivation. He said, "Finish your food," last night. I took that and kind of ran with it (smiling).

Q. Wondering if getting that American No. 1 ranking and returning to your previous career high of 12 and winning a title this big perhaps alters or changes your goals for the rest of the year?

TOMMY PAUL: Not really. I mean, look, I have been at 12. My goal starting the year was to win more tournaments, take home more trophies and try and get into the top 10, a top-10 player. To do that, obviously you've got to win tournaments.

I mean, I'm really happy with the result today, but, you know, I'm still not top 10. So that's the goal. That was the goal starting the year. So I wouldn't say anything's changed.

Q. Congratulations. Talking about the match, also Lorenzo said that you deserve to be top 10, and he wished you very well. Was he what you expected? Everything went quite well for you, and you never had troubles of any sort, I think.

TOMMY PAUL: During the match?

Q. Yes, during the match.

TOMMY PAUL: I don't know (smiling). Yeah, I mean, he's a great kid. I have known him since he kind of broke onto the tour. We have done quite a few practices together. We have played doubles together.

Watching him play on grass the past two or three years has been really cool. I mean, I think everyone kind of thought of him as a clay court player, and he's kind of proved everyone wrong. He's obviously a force on the grass courts and is comfortable on it and plays very, very well on it.

It was really cool to finally play each other, and to play each other in the finals of a tournament like this was amazing. So I'm pretty happy with the result (smiling).

Q. Inevitably we think about Wimbledon now. America has had a huge success at that tournament. There has been a bit of a gap since Sampras and Agassi. Do you think with this current crop of Americans, you leading the way, could potentially do something on grass? Seems like quite an open tournament.

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, I mean, like you said, we have had a bit of a gap, but I think, like, historically and now the Americans like playing on grass. We play an aggressive game style, I think most of us do, and I think it matches up well with the surface.

We saw Frances break into the top 10 on the grass last year. Fritz making quarterfinals and playing an amazing match with Rafa at Wimbledon.

So, yeah, I mean, we're all turning our sights onto Wimbledon and we're going to try and be as ready as we can.

Q. Congratulations. When you look at the past list of winners here at Queen's, how honored are you to put yourself on that trophy?

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, it's really cool. I mean, a lot of people have talked about it, but I have loved recently, over the past two or three years, watching older videos of people playing and the names that are on that trophy or in the locker room or on the walls here, it's amazing.

So I am very, very happy to put my name next to those. Hopefully we can do it again.

Q. The past champions, when you look at Johnny Mac and Jimmy, Andy R., winning this, how much does register with you? It's not just a case that you have won another tournament.

TOMMY PAUL: Absolutely. Not only is it my biggest title so far, it's, I mean, it's one of the coolest tournaments in the world, has some of the most history of any tournament.

So, yeah, it's definitely an amazing one to win, and I'm proud of it and I'm very, very happy about it.

Q. Can you clarify, you said on court you had only brought one shirt. Was that for the final or for the whole tournament?

TOMMY PAUL: Well, no, no, for the final. I had quite a few shirts, but I brought all my clothes here yesterday to get washed, and they stopped doing laundry yesterday. So I went on the court yesterday with two shirts and I was, like, well, you can't split sets, because if I split sets I'm going to have to use the other shirt. Then I won't have one for the finals if I win (smiling).

So luckily I got it done yesterday, and then I came out here with one shirt today, and it was kind of the same kind of situation where definitely didn't want to split sets or I'd be playing in an old soggy shirt (smiling).

So I was very, very happy to get it done in two today.

Q. Has your coach jokes with you, do you feel like playing naked now? (Laughter.)

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, I mean, I played some good tennis this week. You know, tennis players, even when they're playing their best tennis, and maybe they finish the week with a win, but you always take something away from the week that you want to work on. I think, I mean, me and my team are ready to get back to work.

Obviously we'll probably chill tomorrow and not do too much. But, yeah, we're definitely excited about getting back to work.

Q. What will you do this coming week? Is it a matter of really working on certain aspects? Is it a matter of just fine-tuning? If you put racquets away tomorrow, when would you pick up racquets again and really go full bore?

TOMMY PAUL: Tuesday, like the next day. Before a slam, it's hard to take a couple days off in a row. We'll get back to it Tuesday.

We'll probably do something light. But, you know, you don't want to be away from it too long, because it's probably similar to a lot of sports, you want to keep the racquet in your hand, keep the feel for the sport.

Yeah, like I said, we've got stuff to work on, and I think we're excited to get back to it.