Taylor Fritz vs Tommy Paul: A Timeline of the New-Age American Rivalry That Could Revive The Country’s Tennis Scene

The 2024 Delray Beach Open will witness a Taylor Fritz vs Tommy Paul summit clash. The two highest-ranked American players could potentially develop a rivalry that helps men’s tennis regain popularity in the USA.

Fritz and Paul, both 26, have been friends since their junior days and turned pro together in 2015. Turning professional so early meant they chose to forego college and focus on tennis full-time.

They faced off in two junior Grand Slam finals, splitting it one each. Paul won their first battle, winning the 2015 French Open boys’ singles title by defeating his compatriot. Fritz avenged his loss by beating Paul in the 2015 US Open boys’ singles final.

Having known each other well since their early teenage years, Fritz and Paul teamed up to play doubles at the 2016 US Open. They even reached the quarterfinals of the 2022 Indian Wells Masters as a pair. Since their first round exit at the 2023 Italian Open, the friends have not partnered up as their singles careers reached new highs. However, a reunion could be on the cards soon.

Fritz has been the more successful player so far, with six ATP titles, including the 2022 Indian Wells Masters. Paul, meanwhile, has two, most recently winning the Dallas Open. In the Taylor Fritz vs Tommy Paul prize money comparison, the latter’s haul of  $6,946,417 pales in comparison to his fellow American’s $14,732,983 winnings. Fritz has a reported net worth of $3 million-$5 million. Paul also falls in a similar range with a net worth of about $5 million.

Time of the Taylor Fritz vs Tommy Paul rivalry

Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz have played each other four times on the ATP tour, splitting the head-to-head 2-2. In addition to their two junior matches, they have also squared off thrice in the lower tiers of the ATP system. Below is a timeline of the short Taylor Fritz vs Tommy Paul  rivalry –

2015-2017: The Futures and Challengers years – Paul and Fritz’s first meeting outside the juniors came in an ITF Futures tournament. The two Americans faced off in the 2015 Spain F13 event as amateurs. Paul won the tie and went on to lift the title, his first senior trophy.

A couple of years later, the duo crossed paths for the first time as professionals in the 2017 Winnetka Challenger, which Paul again won. Fritz got his revenge some months later at the Champaign Challenger, where he walked away with the W after his opponent retired midway through the second set.

2021: First ATP Tour matches – Four years after their last fixture on the Challenger circuit, the two friends clashed on the main ATP Tour in the 2021 St. Petersburg Open. Fritz won the second-round fixture, going on to finish as runner-up in the ATP 250 tournament.

Paul, though, levelled the Taylor Fritz vs Tommy Paul rivalry within a fortnight. He defeated Fritz at the same stage in the 2021 Stockholm Open. He went on to lift the trophy to bag his first ATP title.

2022: Taylor Fritz goes ahead – Paul and Fritz faced off in the third round of the 2022 Miami Open, the latter winning the tie to go ahead 2-1 in their head-to-head.

2023: Tommy Paul levels – The previous season saw one Taylor Fritz vs Tommy Paul fixture, coming in the semi-final of the Mexico Open. Paul beat his compatriot in three sets, the first ATP match between the duo that went to the decider. With this, he reached his first-ever ATP 500 final but lost to Alex de Minaur. Regardless, his win over Fritz meant their ATP Tour head-to-head was levelled 2-2.

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• Taylor Fritz
• Tommy Paul