PARIS :Tommy Paul’s rods may be gathering dust back home in Florida with the prime fishing season under way but the 12th-seed reeled in one of his biggest catches when he blasted past Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the French Open fourth round on Sunday.
Paul, an enthusiastic amateur fisherman, admitted the rod and reel sport was sometimes on his mind even during baseline rallies on the world’s biggest tennis stages.
“Right now it’s like the prime time season in South Florida for fishing, so I’m seeing a lot of great fish get caught while I’m away, and it’s kind of breaking my heart,” Paul told a press conference. “At least some people are catching them, right?”
He did bag a whopper himself on Sunday though with his 6-3 6-3 6-3 win over Popyrin, becoming the first American male player to reach the last eight in Paris in 22 years.
Paul also became the only active American player to reach the last eight on all three surfaces after his 2023 Australian Open semi-final and 2024 Wimbledon quarter-final runs.
“For me it’s just like a getaway. When I’m fishing, I’m not thinking about tennis. Sometimes when I’m playing tennis, I’m thinking about fishing,” he said.
“When I’m out there (fishing), it’s like a complete separation from my job, from tennis. I think that’s really healthy.”
Paul can land another trophy catch in the last eight where he will face either defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or fellow American and world number 13 Ben Shelton.
