It was a historic day for the American man in Roland Garos on Sunday. Tommy Paul and Francis Tiafour became the first American men to arrive at the French Open Quarter Finals since Andre Agassi in 2003.
Before he could beat Alexei Popilin, Paul had to fight for his spot in the fourth round. Karen Khachanov and Marton Fucsovics pushed the poles to five sets in the third and fourth rounds respectively. Despite these challenges, Paul made history by cruises against Popilin straight sets.
Paul hit clutch shots one after another, clearing out 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. His best shot of the day may have come when he ripped an excellent backhand just below the line on the first set.
Tiafoe struggled to defeat his four-round opponent, Daniel Altmaier, but only a few. Tiafoe also won the straight sets 6-3, 6-4, and 7-6 (7-4). Tierfour has won all sets in this year’s tournament and became the first American man to arrive at the French Open Quarter Finals in 1995 without losing a single set since Agassi.
In Agassi’s 2003 French Open Quarter Final, he fell to Guillermocolia, Argentina. Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero continued to win the title.
Paul, 28, has never made any progress past the third round of the French Open until this year, and now he is one of the last eight players left for Roland Garos. According to the Associated Press, Paul is currently the only active American tennis player to reach the final eight on three different surfaces in a Grand Slam event.
Paul will take on the winners of Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals. That match is scheduled for Tuesday, so Paul has time to recover from his dominant performance in the fourth round.
