PARIS — Tommy Paul became the first American man in the French Open quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003, beating 25th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in less than two hours Sunday.
The 28-year-old Paul, who is seeded 12th at Roland-Garros, was coming off consecutive five-set victories but breezed to this victory, helped by saving 9 of 10 break points he faced while converting all but one of the six he accumulated.
Both Paul and Popyrin won junior singles titles on the red clay in Paris, with the American’s coming a decade ago.
Paul, who was a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2023 on hard courts and a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year on grass courts, is now the only active U.S. man to reach the final eight at Grand Slam tournaments on three surfaces.
There haven’t been multiple U.S. men in the French Open quarterfinals since 1996, when Jim Courier and Pete Sampras both made it that far. Agassi was the last from the country in the men’s semifinals at the French Open when he won the championship in 1999 to complete a career Grand Slam.
Later Sunday, No. 13 Ben Shelton and No. 15 Frances Tiafoe played their fourth-round matches with a chance to join Paul in the quarterfinals. Shelton’s opponent was defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, while Tiafoe faced Daniel Altmaier of Germany.
Five American women reached the fourth round this year, with No. 16 Amanda Anisimova taking on No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Sunday. Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys and Hailey Baptiste are scheduled to play for quarterfinal berths on Monday.
