Tommy Paul Opens Up About Jannik Sinner After His Withdrawal

This is the most unpredictable U.S. Open in recent years: No. 1 Jannik Sinner is out with a knee injury, Carlos Alcaraz is back after four and a half months but his form remains to be seen, and Novak Djokovic was eliminated in the first round and is now past his prime. The established order has been completely upended, and the locker room—especially on the American side—is buzzing with excitement.

Tommy Paul admitted on the “Served with Andy Roddick” podcast that there’s a lot of enthusiasm among U.S. players about this opportunity and the chance to win on home soil: “Ben Shelton won again in Canada, and Tiafoe was on fire in Cincinnati. Then there’s Brandon Nakashima, who’s playing incredible tennis right now—it’s an exciting time for American tennis.”

The American players see this as a chance to pull off a major upset at their home Grand Slam: “In the locker room, there’s a lot of talk about Sinner’s absence—Carlos hasn’t played in a long time… Everyone is fired up. Even if Sinner were here, we’d still be excited to play the tournament, but I think everyone in the locker room is looking forward to this chance to win with great enthusiasm.” The last American to win the men’s singles title at the U.S. Open was Andy Roddick in 2003.

Djokovic’s first-round elimination has already provided one of the most sensational moments of the tournament. He was defeated by Argentine Mariano Navone, ranked No. 49 in the world, at the end of an epic battle lasting 4 hours and 36 minutes, which ended with a score of 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. For the Serbian, this marks his first first-round loss at a Grand Slam in twenty years: the last time it happened was at the 2006 Australian Open, against Paul Goldstein. A statistic that captures the twilight of an era.

Alcaraz wanted to send a message of support to Sinner: “It’s strange that someone like Jannik isn’t here at a major tournament like this. We haven’t seen each other in months; I wish him all the best.” The Spaniard, currently ranked No. 3 in the ATP rankings, did not, however, hide the difficulties of returning after more than four months out due to a wrist injury: “Coming back here and playing a best-of-five-set match after such a long time will be really challenging. My team and I, however, believe this is the right time.”