Tommy Paul’s coach Brad Stine slapped the American star in the face on the eve of last year’s US Open. Twice.
Not even two months after Paul’s then career-best grand slam run to the fourth round of Wimbledon, the 25-year-old – typically “super chill”, as he puts it – was stressed out.
Eye on the ball: Tommy Paul has increased his professionalism, his coach says.Credit:Eddie Jim
A pattern was developing. Paul felt similarly anxious before his home grand slam the year before, too, but hid it better from Stine and co.
The slaps, to be clear, were not designed to hurt but rather to ‘reset’ the Australian Open semi-finalist, who will face off with nine-time champion Novak Djokovic on Rod Laver Arena on Friday night.
Paul lost in the first round at the US Open at his previous four attempts and failed to qualify in between, but this time made it to the round of 32, coming from two-sets-to-one down to beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles, then countryman Sebastian Korda.
Eventual runner-up Casper Ruud finally saw Paul off in a third-straight five-setter.
“I literally slapped him in the face, and I told him, ‘Hey, I need Tommy Paul. Like, where’s Tommy Paul? The guy who’s here right now is not Tommy Paul,’” Stine told The Age.
“I needed him to relax, and I yelled that to him yesterday [Wednesday] during the match [against fellow American Ben Shelton] at one point.
“I said, ‘Be Tommy Paul right here,’ and he knows that means relax; be loosey-goosey, be that guy, because when Tommy’s playing his best tennis, he deals with pressure extremely well.”
That fascinating insight into the dynamics of the relationship between Stine and Paul is the result of almost 3½ years working closely together, and many more intermittently before that in USTA programs.
Stine famously coached Jim Courier to the world No.1 ranking and four major titles, and among his other high-profile pupils were Kevin Anderson, Mardy Fish, Sebastien Grosjean, Andrei Medvedev and Taylor Dent.
Paul, a top junior who won the 2015 French Open boys’ title, approached Stine after the 2019 US Open to see if he would work with him on a temporary basis, which Stine accepted due to Anderson being injured at the time.
Stine left Anderson soon after, factoring in that the former world No.5 was struggling with injuries and almost 34 years old. Not to mention he always believed in Paul’s immense potential, and was drawn to his “infectious personality”.
Paul missed out on a wildcard at Flushing Meadows in 2019 despite being ranked No.112 – better than five of the six original recipients – then was overlooked again for 191st-ranked Christopher Eubanks once Denis Kudla made it in as a direct acceptance.
Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka and even Andy Murray publicly queried the decision.
There are theories as to why Paul did not receive a wildcard, including references to his infamous 35-minute, double-bagel US Open doubles defeat alongside Steve Johnson, to Italians Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini two years earlier.
The allegation is Paul was not in optimum condition, having lost a five-set singles heartbreaker to Japan’s Taro Daniel the previous day. Stine declined to comment, given they were not working together then.
Tommy Paul fires a backhand in his quarter-final win over Ben Shelton.Credit:AP
But the super coach did admit Paul, who is friends with Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, took time to adjust to the demands of becoming a professional tennis player.
“Tommy was probably a little less disciplined as a player when he came out of juniors. Obviously, he had very good success, but I don’t think he was very disciplined when he was in juniors either,” Stine said.
“He was just a better athlete and better tennis player than a lot of those guys. I think you can probably say the same thing about some other [American] guys from his period.
“He wasn’t necessarily doing everything right off the court, but he was certainly working hard on the court … he liked to work, he liked to play – and he still does. He likes competing, and he likes keeping score and knowing who’s winning and losing and those kinds of things.”
Paul regrets some decisions he made in his younger days. Asked by The Age after defeating Shelton to expand on that, he mentioned he could have done with “a year or two” at college before joining the tour full-time.
He had committed to attend the University of Georgia, the platform for John Isner’s top-10 career, but signed a lucrative Nike deal about a fortnight after his French Open junior triumph and instead went pro.
“Everything that happened; I learnt from it. It made me who I am today. It made me the player I am today,” Paul said.
“I’m pretty satisfied with who I am right now. Obviously, I’m not satisfied quite yet with the tournament. Hopefully, we can keep going.”
Stine could hardly be happier with Paul’s “amazing” and ongoing fortnight at Melbourne Park, where he also won his first grand slam main draw match in reaching the third round in 2020.
He accepts Paul, who will make his top-20 debut next week, has benefited from a good draw to this point, but he did eliminate seeded rivals Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Roberto Bautista Agut on the path to Djokovic.
Paul is the last American standing at an event in which eight US men made the last 32 and three reached the quarter-finals. His future looks rosy regardless of what happens against Djokovic, who calls Paul “a complete player”.
Not only is the world No.35 more disciplined these days – although Stine is conscious not to “beat the fun out of him” – he has also overcome elbow and knee injuries that sidelined him for months at a time.
The elbow, in particular, was a major issue.
“[There was a time] we had practised serves, like specifically spent time practising serves, literally once in three years,” Stine said.
At Stine’s urging, Paul hired a dedicated physiotherapist in August last year, given he was more financially secure, and he is now pain free.
The extra serving practice that development allowed paid off in the biggest match of his life on Wednesday, when he landed 66 per cent of his first serves, including 74 per cent in the fourth set – without losing a point – as he sealed the win over Shelton.
Both Paul and Stine believe his transformation owes to steady progress in various areas, but the coach said the American’s journey to the last 16 at Wimbledon in 2022 was a significant trigger.
“I always say if you want to change anything in your life … you’ve got to do it on a daily basis. You make that adjustment and try and get better at it day to day until it becomes your norm,” Stine said.
“That’s what I think Tommy’s doing. It’s becoming more and more of his norm to be more focused and to be more intense, and I think that’s clearly translating to what he’s doing on the court.”
