Ethan Quinn pushes forward in Paris, with help from Tommy Paul's coaching team

PARIS, France — Ethan Quinn has found a new lease on life at Roland Garros, and he’s determined to make it count.

The 21-year-old American qualifier was down two sets to none against No. 16 seed Grigor Dimitrov in the first round, when a twist of fate opened the door. As Quinn mounted a comeback, his opponent was forced to retire after receiving treatment on his left thigh, leading 6-2, 6-3, 2-6.

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The moment was especially meaningful for Quinn, a lifelong student of the sport who once modeled parts of his game on Dimitrov’s. After the match, the Bulgarian encouraged Quinn and his team to seize the unexpected opportunity.

“It was a cool experience, getting to play a guy like Grigor (Dimitrov) after I imitated his serve when I was younger… It’s kind of a full-circle moment,” he told Tennis.com in Paris.

“There were a lot of different players that I’d watch when I was a kid that I wanted to try and imitate little elements of their game,” he recalled, also citing Alexander Zverev and Milos Raonic. “And then the next player would come along and I’d be like, Man I want to imitate them!

“Fortunately, now, I think my forehands have also become more of my weapon. Maybe in the future other players will be thinking, Man I want to have a forehand like Ethan Quinn.’

That forehand is all Quinn, although he credits some inspiration from one of his childhood idols, Juan Martin del Potro: “I’ve watched a lot of videos of him and how he played, how he was able to generate the power and the pace from his forehand,” he says. “I try and do the same thing with my game.”

A college tennis standout, Quinn was the No. 1 recruit in 2022, and went pro shortly after capturing the 2023 NCAA Singles Championship while at the University of Georgia. (He was still repping the Bulldogs in Paris, sporting a UGA hat during our interview.)

But the jump to the pros was jarring. No longer the big fish in a small pond, Quinn found himself struggling to keep up with seasoned veterans and rising stars alike in the relentless week-to-week grind of the tour.

The experience nearly drove him back to college—until good friend Tommy Paul intervened. Paul’s coach, Brad Stine, a fellow Fresno native, has known Quinn since the age of six. The two reconnected during the pandemic lockdown in 2020. Today, Stine coaches both Paul and Quinn, who also works with Brian Garber, and the players’ friendship has proven invaluable as Quinn finds his footing on tour.

“He certainly has given me a lot of advice. Sometimes I take it, sometimes I try not to take it,” Quinn told me, laughing. “There's a lot of things that I've taken for granted, though.

“When it comes down to it, it's really rare that you have a Top 10 player that's giving you advice on how to build your career, right?”

Now, with that advice in hand—and taken with a grain of salt—Quinn is putting it to work in what’s shaping up to be his breakthrough season. During his first European red-clay swing, he notched his first Masters 1000 win in Madrid and has already reached a career-best third round at a Grand Slam after surviving a marathon battle with Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko, 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 7-5 on Thursday.

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One of his biggest learning moments came a few weeks ago in Barcelona, where qualifier Quinn faced top seed Carlos Alcaraz and pushed the defending Roland Garros champion to a second-set tiebreak before falling 6-2, 7-6 (6).

Quinn walked away from that match “with a smile on (his) face”—and ready to study even harder.

“After the match, I definitely looked at all the film that I possibly could,” he explained. “Just watching what Alcaraz does with a tennis ball is pretty special. He’s able to move around the court unbelievably well and hit some shots that some players in the world just can’t even think of hitting.

“Watching the film, it’s funny to see it from the outside—how I felt playing the match versus how it actually looks. So, you know, that’s a great assistant coach… I certainly like to rewatch those big matches against the big players.”

Next up, Quinn faces Tallon Griekspoor in the third round on Saturday, with his sights set on reaching the second week of a Slam for the first time.