“When I was young, it was either tournament weekends or fishing weekends,” Tommy Paul said a couple of days ago, and that balance between competition and calm still defines him. Growing up in New Jersey and later North Carolina, before moving to Florida at 14 to train, the American ace spent his weekends either competing in tournaments or heading out to fish. His comfort at sea is evident, often pictured with a rod in hand and sunblock on his face, fully immersed in the serenity of open water. Now, as he gears up for a high-stakes showdown against Carlos Alcaraz for a place in the French Open SF, Paul reveals that even during intense matches, his mind occasionally drifts to fishing. Want to know what he said? Let’s dive in.

Alexei Popyrin found no answers against the relentless American Tommy Paul yesterday, as the Australian’s French Open campaign ended with a straight-sets defeat. The 25th seed never appeared close to seizing his chance for a maiden GS quarterfinal, falling 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on a sunlit Court Suzanne Lenglen. It was a clinical performance from the American, who gave little away throughout the encounter.

With the victory, Paul made history as the 1st American man to reach the Roland Garros quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003. But beyond the triumph, Paul admitted that even during matches, his mind sometimes drifts to one of his lifelong passions: fishing.

At the post-match press conference on Sunday, Tommy Paul reflected on the role that fishing plays in his life alongside tennis. When asked about the connection, he shared, “The connection between the two, but I don’t know, I mean, for me it’s just like a getaway. I don’t I don’t. When I’m fishing, I’m not thinking about tennis. Sometimes when I’m playing tennis, I’m thinking about fishing, but yeah. When I’m out there, it’s like a complete like separation from my job from tennis, and I mean I think that’s really healthy.”

And true to that, Paul’s love for fishing is well documented. Just this April, his partner Paige Lorenze posted a video highlighting their shared off-court moment. Captioning it “He caught it, I made it. Pt 1🩷🐟 @tommypaull,” the clip showed Paul bringing home a large fish in a cooler, cleaning it, and Lorenze skillfully transforming it into an appetizing Cilantro Crudo dish. It gave fans a charming peek into Paul’s life beyond the baseline yet again.

In another instance last December, the American ace shared a photo of himself by the lake, proudly holding a fresh catch. He captioned it with a bit of humor: “Buzzer beater hoochie.”

He also previously explained how fishing helps manage his mental stress from the intense tour schedule. “Even when I’m fishing, or doing off-court stuff, I’m thinking about whether it’s going to affect my tennis,” he said. “And a lot of times, it affects it for the better. Before I leave for tournaments, I get a little stressed, or I get kind of locked into practice mode. It’s just tennis, tennis, tennis. My team will be like, ‘All right, Thursday, you’re not playing tennis. Go fishing,’ and it’ll be something that’s really good for me.”

Now, as he prepares for a crucial French Open QF clash with Carlos Alcaraz, Paul will continue to find balance through his time on the water. Well, he has reasons for that!

Tommy Paul reveals why fishing clears his mind

If you’ve followed Tommy Paul on his social media platforms, you probably already know his favorite off-court escape, fishing. During last year’s off-season, Paul went deep-sea fishing before diving back into training. Reflecting on that time in an interview with Tennis.com, Paul said, “I think a lot of people thought I was just fishing all of December because that’s kind of all I was posting. But I tell everyone, tennis always comes first.”

Even when he’s out with a rod and reel, tennis is never far from his mind, though. “When you’re not playing amazing, sometimes your mind can kind of be all over the place. And for me, when I’m kind of in those zones of not playing my best, we try and focus on doing less,” he later added.

With Roland Garros now in full swing and Tommy preparing to face Carlos Alcaraz, the question remains: will his calm mindset and love for fishing help him navigate the challenge ahead and earn him a spot in the SF?