THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 9, 2024

Tommy Paul

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/T. Paul

5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Tommy, tough match out there today, but you must be pleased with your performance.

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, I mean, like you said, it was a tough match. He played pretty well there in the last couple sets. He kind of dictated the points and ended up dictating the outcome.

He played awesome and played quick. It was hard for me to kind of get ahead in points.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Carlos at the end said it felt like a clay court match sometimes, especially in the first set. How do you feel like you were able to match him, especially early on, and then...

TOMMY PAUL: I don't know. I feel like it didn't feel super clay court-y to me. I felt like we played some pretty quick points. When I say 'quick', the ball speed was fast. The points were long, but we were kind of hitting laser beams back and forth.

We were both moving pretty well. Like I said, I feel like he kind of kept the level, and mine kind of dropped off a bit. I didn't serve super great today. I mean, I couldn't find a first serve. It's tough to play anybody in the top hundred not serving well on first serves. He was all over my second, it felt like.

It wasn't a fun situation.

Q. Anything you could have done differently? You mentioned your serve. Anything else tactically you could have done?

TOMMY PAUL: I would have liked to serve better. It's hard to start on offense when he's serving, and it's hard to start on offense when you're starting every point with second serves.

But yeah, I mean, he played first-strike tennis better than I did. He got on offense way quicker. I think that's what won him the match.

Q. Your previous matches, even in the first set, you were coming in a lot. After a while is it just impossible to get in against Carlos because of the way he plays? Why did you not want to get in as much today?

TOMMY PAUL: No, I would have liked to have gotten in more. The past couple times that I played him, we always played on hard court. Bounces are predictable on the hard court. It's easier to take shots early.

Ended up taking most of the second serve returns pretty far back in the court. When you start points back there, it's really hard to move forward. When I was playing on hard, I was starting up very close on seconds. That allowed me to get to the net more on his service games. On my service games, it's not fun to serve and volley on second serves. That made it tough.

Q. What are you most satisfied with, what do you take from this going forward?

TOMMY PAUL: I don't know. I feel like every match I kind of learned something new. Every match I played a little bit better. I was attacking pretty well throughout the whole stretch.

I mean, I guess what I'm most proud of is probably last week, two weeks ago, in Queen's, getting titles. I feel like any time you can go home with a title, that is nice.

Then this week, I mean, I'm happy getting through four matches and playing Carlos here. But obviously I want to win that match and have another big match.

Q. How hard is it to get the ball past Carlos compared to other players? Do you think grass really suits him, as well?

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, I mean, he moves unbelievably well. He's probably the quickest player. It's very hard to get the ball by him.

Grass suits him. He moves incredible on the grass. It's not easy to change direction the way that he does. He stays pretty low. Yeah, I mean, it's not easy.

Q. What are the things that really separate him compared to the other guys at the top? Is it the movement or other things...

TOMMY PAUL: I don't know. Like, the last two sets he hit a lot of winners. That helps (smiling).

I don't know. When he starts building energy and building momentum, I don't know, it feels a little bit different than most of the other guys. He can play some seriously amazing, amazing tennis.

Half of the job when you're out there is not to let him win one of those crazy points because when he does, he kind of gets on a roll.

Q. When you're out of the tournament and Taylor is still in, how much do you think about him? How much do you hope for him to have success?

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah, I haven't thought about it at all yet. Still a little upset about the match right now.

I mean, he's playing Musetti. I just played him two weeks ago. We'll probably talk about that a bit. I obviously hope he wins the whole tournament.

He's playing awesome. I watched the whole match yesterday with Zverev. I'm excited to see his next match.