Tommy Paul wins Queen’s, becomes American men’s tennis No. 1

Tommy Paul will become the American men’s tennis No. 1 for the first time in his career Monday after defeating Italian Lorenzo Musetti to win the Queen’s title in London.

Paul, currently ranked No. 13, will replace compatriot Taylor Fritz as world No. 12 after his 6-1, 7-6(8) win over world No. 30 Musetti, who will rise to No. 25 himself Monday.

His high-energy, on-the-spot movement and moments of guile overwhelmed Musetti in the first set. Paul streaked away into first a 3-0 and then a 5-1 lead, at times looking as if he was floating over the grass, a surface on which he had never previously won a title. It looked as if he had broken the back of the match when he broke Musetti and promptly held serve to move 5-3 up, but the Italian rallied impressively, hitting a stunning backhand return winner down the line to break back and level the match at 5-5.

He then took a 4-1 lead in the tiebreak, as Paul erred in his execution for the first time in the entire match, but the American recovered himself by reestablishing the inside-out forehand to backhand pattern that had helped him win the first set so comfortably. Musetti had managed to blunt that route of attack using his formidable slice and ability to consistently and accurately block service returns on both wings, but Paul was able to reintroduce it when it mattered, even after missing a regulation smash at 4-4 after a cat-and-mouse point.

This is the third and biggest ATP Tour title of the 27-year-old’s career, having previously won two ATP 250 events in Stockholm and Dallas. He will now look ahead to Wimbledon on July 1 with more confidence in making a deep run, hoping to build on a semifinal appearance at the 2023 Australian Open, which is his best Grand Slam result to date.

What this title means for Paul

Growing up in North Carolina and Florida, Paul was always far and away the best American in his age group, the so-called “97s” (their age group year) that included Paul, Frances Tiafoe, Reilly Opelka and Fritz. Fritz was the worst of the lot by a long way.

And then over the next 10 years, everything got jumbled. Paul struggled with motivational issues. So did Tiafoe, after a quick rise into the top 30. Opelka, who is nearly 7-feet tall, blew people away with his serve but battled to try to get a ground game to go along with it then succumbed to injuries that he is still fighting his way back from. As for Fritz, he grinded his way into the top 10 and has been the top American for the past two years.

But a decade on, what’s old became new again Sunday when Paul won the Cinch Championship at the Queen’s Club, where he beat Musetti in the final for the biggest win of his career. It was Paul’s second title of the season, which is shaping up to be the best of his career. He won the Dallas Open in February, made the semifinals of Indian Wells in March and the semifinals of the Italian Open in May. When the new rankings come out on Monday, Paul will claim the No. 12, one notch ahead of Fritz and two in front of Ben Shelton.

Paul has been pretty open about where his journey took a wrong turn — he turned pro too early, he has said, shortly after he won the junior title at the French Open in 2015. Simply put, he wasn’t ready, and he should have spent a couple of years maturing at the University of Georgia, which he had planned to do all along, instead of learning the hard way how hard professional tennis players have to work to climb the rankings.

Now 27, Paul will head into Wimbledon hoping to make a deep run on the grass, a surface he is still finding his way on. He’s played deep at a Grand Slam before, making the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2022, but he has not been past the fourth round anywhere else. He made the final 16 at Wimbledon in 2022.

Like plenty of others, Paul will likely go as far as his serve takes him on the grass. He can serve in the mid-130s at times and follow that up with big forehands from inside the baseline, and an increasingly aggressive game that has him finishing points at the net far more than he used to. Now it’s just a matter of putting that altogether amid the grandeur of the All England Club, with the eyes of his country looking for big things from the new top American. — Matthew Futterman, tennis staff writer

Pegula victorious in Berlin

Paul’s compatriot Jessica Pegula also won her maiden grass-court title on Sunday, after beating American women’s No. 1 and doubles partner Coco Gauff in their rain-affected semifinal that morning in Berlin.

Pegula needed to win just four more points after they resumed at 7-5, 6-6 (3-1).

In the final, the world No. 5 saved five championship points against Russian Anna Kalinskaya to win 6-7 (0-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-3), having been down 4-1 in the deciding set. Pegula skipped the French Open, despite feeling like playing was possible, in order to focus on the upcoming grass season, and the decision appears to have paid dividends already.

(Photo: Zac Goodwin / PA Images via Getty Images)