American Ace Candidly Reveals How He Often Keeps Track of Live Rankings After Breaking a Major Career Milestone

Breaking into the top 10? That’s the dream, right? Every tennis pro out there wants it, and American star Tommy Paul is no exception. He’s crushing it at the Australian Open right now, just made it to the fourth round. Guess what? That rocket-fueled him into the top 10 rankings! Now, you gotta wonder, does he even care about those live rankings? I mean, the guy’s all about the game, and his focus is as sharp as his shots. But on a fun note, live rankings can hurt him at times!

Tommy Paul is set to make his debut in the top 10 of the ATP Rankings after a dominant 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-0 victory over Roberto Carballes Baena. This win catapults Paul to No. 9 in the live rankings, and he’ll officially solidify his spot in the elite group if he defeats Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his next match.

After his third-round victory against Roberto Carballés Baena, the American sat with Adam Peacock, host and commentator at this year’s Australian Open, and shared his honest opinion of watching live ranks. “I mean sometimes, yeah,” Tommy replied. And then Adam confronted that he reached 8th on live ranks. Tommy added, “I like that but you know the live rankings…

They can twist. Sometimes they hurt your feelings. You know you look at them and then when the actual ranking comes out there, you’re not where you thought you were but uh yeah It’s exiting I knew coming down here my goal was to to leave here top 10, so hopefully we can still make that happen,” he added. 

Tommy also added his views about how hard it is to get into the top 20. “Yeah, I mean once you get up top 20, really, it’s so hard each spot. I mean, you feel like you gotta win a tournament to move one spot and sometimes you’ll be making finals and you’ll move down. So it’s a crazy separation and points at this point and I mean it’s not easy to move up. It’s not really. I am hoping you know we can get some more wins and secure that spot,” he added. The grind Paul put in is amazing!

Tommy Paul’s rankings fast facts:

• Before turning pro in 2015, the American became the highest-ranked junior of his class in the same year.
• He first cracked the top 200 after qualifying in the Miami Open in 2016.
• Three years later, the American broke into the top 100 ranks for the first time, his second ATP Challenger title of the year in New Haven, after winning in Sarasota earlier in the season. He has never looked back since. 
• Two years later, in 2021, the significant momentum came for the American broke into the top 50. This was a result of him beating Christopher O’Connell in a first-round five-set thriller in the 2021 French Open, before he losing to the then-world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the second round. He ended the year as No. 43.
• The following year, he climbed near the top 30. Seeded 30th at Wimbledon that year, Tommy Paul made history by defeating Jiří Veselý in the third round. This marked his first-ever appearance in the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament.
• Following his exceptional year ending in 2022, with rank 33, his major rank up-gradation came in 2023 when he reached his first Grand Slam SF in Australia.
• Tommy Paul had a successful 2023 season, highlighted by back-to-back Canadian Open quarterfinals and a first Masters 1000 semifinal. He also reached the fourth round of the US Open for the first time, propelling him to a career-high ranking of world No. 12, his second-best career rankings.

Currently seated in 9 in live rankings, just after Novak Djokovic, who has slipped one spot to No. 8 in the live rankings, but he’s not too concerned. However, his second-round match with Nishikori is what might be his turning point in the AO.

‘Really bad’ second serve stat is what made Tommy Paul change gears in his AO second-round match

Tommy started his 2025 on a high note, finishing Adelaide International in the SF after being defeated by Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime. And continuing his form, the American also kept his nerves till now, reaching the fourth round by beating Christopher O’Connell in five sets, Kei Nishikori in four, and Roberto Carballes Baena in three sets. However, his eye-opening match can be considered a Nishikori match. Why?

Well, the American ace just won 23% of his second serve points during the first set, as Nishikori won the tiebreaker 7-6. After dropping the first set, Tommy Paul roared back in the second, dominating 6-0. However, his Japanese opponent wasn’t ready to give up and fought back strongly in the third. Paul eventually secured the win 6-7, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1, as he advanced to the third round in Australia for the third time in his career.

“He was winning all those points, so I tried to do everything I could to get out of defence. After the first set, I looked at the stats and saw that my second serve points won was really bad because he was attacking so well on my second serve. I had to get my first-serve percentage up. Those were the main things I was focusing on,” Paul remarked after the match. 

Paul also showed his appreciation for the former world No. 4 seed: “I think at points in the match he was playing super well. I don’t know how I’m going to put a number next to it, but he was playing at top-level tennis for some games. Especially there, midway through the third set, he made me feel like the pace of my ball was slow. He played such fast speed and changed directions a lot, it was difficult to deal with.”

To conclude, after beating Baena in three straight sets, Paul will be eager to continue his form in the fourth round as it will cement him inside of Top 10. Will he be able to achieve that feat in the ongoing AO? Share your thoughts below!