Tommy Paul has struggled with injury before his grass court season even began.
The ATP’s world number 13 was dealing with an abdominal injury during the latter stages of the clay-court season.
The American produced some encouraging results on the surface by reaching the semi-finals in Rome and the quarter-finals at the French Open.
Now Paul is preparing for the Wimbledon Championships and will continue his pursuit of a first Grand Slam title.
Tommy Paul issues Wimbledon fitness update
Tommy Paul was nursing an abdominal injury during the French Open, but he still managed to equal his best result of reaching the last eight.
But his fitness prevented him from defending the title at Queen’s, before losing his opening match at Eastbourne.
But Paul has declared himself fit for Wimbledon and is more confident in his fitness heading into the grass court Grand Slam.
“Physically, [I feel] a lot better,” Paul said. “Obviously, not perfect. I don’t think anyone is ever really perfect in the Slams. But it was nice to be home for a little bit and reset.
“I got a match in last week and I was actually kind of happy with how I played. I could’ve moved better. But overall, with Evans, I thought the quality of the match was pretty good.
“So, that’s all I really wanted to come into Wimbledon. I didn’t really exhaust myself the week before. Now we’re here at Wimbledon, and there is no better place in the world to be. So, I am excited to get started.”
Tommy Paul opens up on the challenges American players face on grass courts
Over the past two seasons Paul has demonstrated his improved level of play on grass.
He reached the Eastbourne final in 2023 and lifted the Queen’s title a year later, before producing a career-best performance at Wimbledon.
Despite not showing much pedigree on grass beforehand, Paul has shown the ability to adapt and adjust to the surface he did not grow up on, which he says is a big challenge for many American players.
“Mostly Americans grew up on hard courts, and we are still more exposed to clay court tennis than grass,” Paul added.
“The Brits and Australians are really the only countries that grew up playing tournaments on grass. For us, we don’t really see it. I just think we don’t have as much time on the surface compared to Brits or Australians.
“But I think it is such a special surface. Everything is so different about the way you move, the way the ball goes through the court. The balls are different. Everything is different. I think it takes experience on the surface.”
