Tommy Paul is one of the best movers on grass among the American men, a former Queen’s champion whose speed and clean ball-striking travel well to a low bounce. He finished the 2026 season 20th in the GTC Grass Rankings with a GTC Grass Rating of 105, one point up on his preseason 104 but down from 16th.
Grass at a glance
- GTC Grass Rating: 105, 20th in the men’s rankings (16th before the season)
- Pillars: Lawn Form 58, Arsenal 62, Wimbledon 50, Nerve 50
- Nationality: United States
- Best Wimbledon result: Quarter-final (2024)
- Grass titles: Queen’s 2024
- Plays: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
How Tommy plays on grass
Paul’s grass game is built on movement. He gets low quickly, recovers well after being pulled wide and can turn a neutral rally with a single change of pace. The forehand is his main attacking shot, the two-handed backhand is flat and reliable down the line, and he is comfortable using a sliced backhand to keep the ball under an opponent’s strike zone. He is a confident volleyer and moves forward willingly, which gives him another way to finish points on a fast court.
What grass exposes is the serve. It is accurate but not heavy enough to bring many free points against the best returners, so he has to work harder in his service games than the leading grass players do. His Arsenal score of 62 reflects that balance: an excellent mover and all-court player with no single serve-based weapon.
His Nerve score of 50 is the weakest part of the profile. In 2026 he won the first set of the Queen’s final and lost in three, and at Wimbledon he won the first set against Hubert Hurkacz before losing the next three. Holding on to leads against strong servers is the step he has not yet made consistently.
Grass record
Paul’s best grass week is the 2024 Queen’s title, where he beat Jack Draper in the quarter-finals and Lorenzo Musetti in the final. Two years earlier at Eastbourne he beat Jannik Sinner before losing to Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals. At Wimbledon he reached the fourth round in 2022, losing to Cameron Norrie, and the third round in 2023. His best Wimbledon result came in 2024, a quarter-final. Injury kept him out of Queen’s in 2025, and he lost in the second round at Wimbledon that year.
The 2026 grass season
His rating was 104 before the swing and did not move until Queen’s. There he extended his winning run at the event to nine matches, beating 4th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-6(4) in the quarter-finals without having dropped a set, then Ugo Humbert in the semi-finals. In the final he took the first set from Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(4) but lost 4-6, 3-6 after 3 hours 2 minutes. The run lifted his rating from 104 to 108.
At Wimbledon, seeded 21st, he reached the third round and lost to Hurkacz 6-4, 6-7(5), 5-7, 2-6 in 3 hours 15 minutes. With little to show between Queen’s and that defeat, his rating slipped from 108 to 105 and he fell four places in the rankings over the season.
Looking ahead to 2027
Paul has two strong Queen’s results in three years, and the London event remains the best fit for his game: a fast court where movement and net play count. For 2027 the question is whether he can carry that form into Wimbledon, where he has reached the second week only twice. The practical targets are a higher first-serve percentage and fewer lost leads against big servers. Staying fit through the clay season would also help, since injury has disrupted his grass preparation before. A return to the Wimbledon fourth round is a fair target; a second quarter-final would need a kind draw.
