Tommy Paul didn’t claim the French Open title, but he sure made his mark. For the first time since Andre Agassi in 2003, an American man reached the Roland-Garros quarterfinals—and it was Paul, breaking his own third-round ceiling. His path was anything but easy: in the second round, he battled back from two sets down to beat Márton Fucsovics, though a decider injury threatened his run. “If I need to compete in five sets again in the next round, I will,” he vowed. Paul pushed through two more rounds, injury and all, before bowing out to the defending champ. Clearly, his fight isn’t over yet—and neither are his injury woes.

As the sun set on the Parisian clay with Carlos reigning as its new champion, the tour moved into its next challenge—the grass court season! Many players rushed to the practice courts. They wanted to get their footing on the new surface. But some players might sit out the upcoming grass court tournaments.

Tennis journalist Jose Morgado revealed on X, dated June 12, writing, “Lots of people finished Roland Garros in really bad condition…” He also revealed the list of players that have withdrawn. According to Morgado, next week’s tennis events are hit with numerous withdrawals. Tommy Paul, Lorenzo Musetti, Matteo Berrettini, Sebastian Korda, and Nick Kyrgios are out of London. Alcaraz and Dimitrov are also doubtful. Arthur Fils and Tallon Griekspoor have pulled from Halle. Hurkacz and Machac are questionable.

That means two of last year’s finalists—defending champ Paul and runner-up Musetti—are out. Paul, still nursing an abdominal injury, won’t get the chance to defend his title after a thrilling 6-1, 7-6 victory over the world No. 8 in the 2024 final. With Paul, Musetti, and Berrettini off the entry list, organizers wasted no time. They brought in fresh faces.

First up is Alexander Bublik. He arrives fresh off a surprising French Open quarterfinal run. He lost to Jannik Sinner on June 4. Joining him is American Jenson Brooksby. He’s ready to kick off his grass season after recently grabbing his first-ever clay title. A boost of confidence for sure.

But Tommy Paul’s recent run at the French Open isn’t his first dance with setbacks this season. Back in March, during Acapulco, he had to pull out with a stomach virus—a real bummer. But far from the end of his story. Determined to bounce back, Paul set his sights on Indian Wells. He returned with fresh hope and a new outlook: “Maybe just a little bit more confident,” he admitted. “Confidence is huge in tennis, especially, I mean, any individual sport, confidence is a big, big thing. So it’s nice coming in knowing that I’ve played well. I like the conditions here. And yeah, hopefully that can carry me through a long week.”

Paul’s resilience paid off. His semifinal charge in 2024 continued his strong record in the desert. He made fourth-round runs in 2021 and 2023. Seeded 10th at Indian Wells and ranked 11th in the world, Paul didn’t let the Acapulco withdrawal slow him down for long. He headed straight to Los Angeles to recover: “I did the rest of my recovery there, and yeah, started hitting on Saturday or Sunday,” he said. “Now I feel great. I kind of made, I’d say, a full recovery two days ago, three days ago. Really just excited to be feeling healthy again and back at Indian Wells.”

But now, the French Open injury threw a curveball. Not to mention, Paul’s recent revelation that he needs an MRI after the tournament signals another hurdle.

Tommy Paul reveals concern over injury during Roland Garros

After beating Márton Fucsovics, the American revealed his injury struggles during the match. He felt a lower abdomen strain from the start, which got worse as play continued. “I’ve been dealing with various discomforts for days, and the most significant one is in an adductor,” Paul said. “I tried to shorten points and asked for a medical timeout, but they couldn’t reassure me. Still, I see clay as a great opportunity for me, and I’m proud to have come back managing the pain.” Set to face Karen Khachanov next, Paul added, “I’ll need to have an MRI—my discomfort has worsened for weeks. I want to play, no matter what.”

Paul, the former World No. 9, skipped a medical timeout during the match. “I just knew that there wasn’t any treatment to really fix it,” he explained. “I just wanted to hear, ‘You should be fine to keep going.’ He didn’t say that, but it was good to talk to someone, I guess.”

Despite his pain, Paul pushed through. He beat Karen Khachanov and Alexei Popyrin to reach the quarterfinals. There, Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 2 seed, was no easy match. Alcaraz won 6-0, 6-1, 6-4. Paul, with his thigh heavily taped, couldn’t move or hit at full strength. “I’ve felt better, you know?” Paul admitted. “I wanted to win, but it was obvious I wasn’t moving amazing.” But a powerful Alcaraz, in top form, made sure of the result.

Now, Tommy Paul is off the court to rest and recover. Can he make a big comeback on grass? With his fighting spirit, anything’s possible! Let us know what you think in the comments!