Quote of the Day: Tommy Paul is fighting for his "baby" in Rome after his truck was seized

Tommy Paul is back in the semifinals at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, and this time around he’s playing with extra motivation.

On Thursday, he took down big-serving No. 30 seed Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (4), 6-3, and in the process became the first American since Pete Sampras over 30 years ago to reach back-to-back Rome semifinals.

But a bigger prize for Paul in Rome? Getting his beloved Ford F-150 truck back, after it was recently repossessed from his home in Boca Raton, Florida.

“Ford took it back. I'm excited to get it back,” Paul revealed, laughing. “I had to win a couple matches so I could pay that off.”

Read More: Tommy Paul enjoys Frecce Tricolori air show en route to Rome victory 🇮🇹

I missed a couple payments and they took my truck from my house this week. I've been grinding to get my truck back.

The American shared the hilarious story in his post-match press conference as he revealed how “a couple missed payments” lead to a lot of headaches this week:

Q: You're trying to get one step further than last year. How much motivation is there coming back to Rome?

TOMMY PAUL: Yeah. I mean, it's been a great week for me on court so far. I feel like I've been getting a little bit better with every match… I would have liked to have served a little bit better today. On court everything has been going pretty well.

Off court, a little bit of a stressful week. I got my truck repossessed. I missed a couple payments and they took my truck from my house this week. I've been grinding to get my truck back.

If you know me, that's my baby. Yeah, really grinding to get that back.

Thankfully for Paul, everything has been sorted out after a couple of rounds at the Foro Italico.

The 27-year-old, who has won over $10 million in career prize money, has already added a cool €291,040 (USD $325,200) to his bank account by reaching the semifinals—and he confirmed that one of his trainers was already heading to retrieve the truck.

Paul, the No. 11 seed, will take on top-ranked Jannik Sinner next in the semifinals. With €523,870 (USD $585,300) on offer should he advance, that should be plenty to keep the tow trucks away.