Inspired by the past and staying present, Tommy Paul builds bright future at BNP Paribas Open

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—Tommy Paul is sleeping and breathing tennis this year at the BNP Paribas Open. He’s eating Italian.

“I have basically just been chilling at the house watching tennis,” he said on Wednesday. “It's been nice having the last few matches I've been second up, so I've been going back and hanging out, watching the later matches. You know, my girlfriend has been cooking up food, we've been barbecuing some nights, and just hanging out.”

Into the semifinals of a Sunshine Swing Masters 1000 for the first time, the 26-year-old revealed he’s not always watching live matches as he aims to become the second American man in the last three years to lift the Baccarat Trophy, dipping back into history to draw inspiration from a mix of classics and deep cuts.

“I think before my first round we watched Tim Henman versus Roger in Paris-Bercy, and then we watched [Stefan] Edberg before my second round,” he recalled after a three-set win over Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals. “Then we watched Boris Becker yesterday. You know, trying to get to the net, those are all pretty good volleyers.

“I've really enjoyed watching Edberg. You know, just for whatever reason, I love his backhand volley. Favorite shot in tennis.”

Life imitated art for Paul on match point against Ruud: with a popped string on his racquet, he crashed the net for the fifth time in that final game and nailed a backhand volley of his own to snap a four-match losing streak against the resurgent Norwegian, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.

“I think I'm playing a different style of tennis. I think probably…in Australia or in Toronto, I was probably playing a little bit better from the baseline, to be honest,” he said, contrasting his Indian Wells campaign to his semifinal finishes at last year’s Australian and National Bank Opens.

“But I think I'm serving better right now. I think I'm seeing the court a little bit better, maybe attacking, and using the whole court better. I don't know. It's different, but I think I'm playing smarter, better tennis.”

The clearer head may be due to a stricter routine, one he slowly began to implement after losing himself in what he described as a “party phase” earlier in his career.

“I mean, they're not always, like, the normal routines,” he clarified in his post-match press conference. “I mean, you see a lot of players with very set-in-stone routines on court. It's not always that. A lot of times it's, like, off court, what I'm having for breakfast. I kind of haven't switched it up too much. I've been, you know, eating dinner, going straight to the hot tub every night, chilling, and then going to bed. That's been, like, my routine.

“But, I mean, so far it's been nice.”

The tennis certainly has been for Paul, who hadn’t been to the quarterfinals of either Indian Wells or Miami in seven combined appearances. Seeded 17th in the desert, he eased into the last eight without dropping a set before weathering a second-set wobble to defeat Ruud in front of an emotionally invested Stadium 2 Court.

“He’s looking a little tight,” a woman next to me fretted to her friend as Paul battled through a long game serving for the match. “Hella tight.”

Those nerves melted away when that last lob from Ruud fell long, and Paul was already eager to continue a momentum fueled by a disappointing third-round exit at the Australian Open in January.

“Sometimes it's the best thing that could happen,”said the 2023 semifinalist, recalling a 6-0 fifth set defeat to Miomir Kecmanovic that inspired two finals and one title in February. “I came back and was really motivated to get back to work…I think I've had some tough losses where it's made me get back to work. Even just last week or two weeks ago in Acapulco, I lost first round there after a pretty good stretch of tournaments with Dallas and Delray.

“I called my team to come to California immediately and got back to work and was excited to get back to work before this tournament, knowing that this and Miami are very important tournaments for me.”

If he needs any further inspiration, Paul need look no further than 1990’s Indian Wells final when Edberg, in his fourth main-draw appearance, won the title over Andre Agassi. In his fourth main-draw appearance in 2024, how much farther can Tommy Paul go?