FRENCH OPEN

Paul becomes first American man to reach quarters since 2003

Svitolina superb comeback upsets Paolini

FE Team | Published: June 02, 2025 00:56:02

PARIS, June 01 (AP): Tommy Paul became the first American man in the French Open quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003, beating 25th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in less than two hours Sunday.
The 28-year-old Paul, who is seeded 12th at Roland-Garros, was coming off consecutive five-set victories but breezed to this victory, helped by saving 9 of 10 break points he faced while coverting all but one of the six he accumulated.
Both Paul and Popyrin won junior singles titles on the red clay in Paris, with the American's coming a decade ago.
Paul, who was a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2023 on hard courts and a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year on grass courts, is now the only active US man to reach the final eight at Grand Slam tournaments on three surfaces.
There haven't been multiple US men in the French Open quarterfinals since 1996, when Jim Courier and Pete Sampras both made it that far. Agassi was the last from the country in the men's semifinals at the French Open when he won the championship in 1999 to complete a career Grand Slam.
Meanwhile, Elina Svitolina saved three match points and came back to eliminate 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 on Sunday, earning her fifth French Open quarterfinal appearance.
The 13th-seeded Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, is a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist - getting that far twice at Wimbledon and once at the U.S. Open - but is 0-4 so far in the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros.
She'll try to go a step further on Tuesday, when she will face either three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek or 2022 Wimbledon champion Elina Rybakina. They were scheduled to play each other next at Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The No. 4-seeded Paolini entered Sunday on a career-best nine-match winning streak, including a run to the title on red clay at the Italian Open.