Tommy Paul made history on Sunday, becoming the first American man in the French Open quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003.
The 28-year-old beat 25th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in less than two hours to smash the record Agassi has held for the last 22 years.
Paul, who is himself seeded 12th at Roland-Garros, was coming off consecutive five-set victories but breezed to this win, 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.
Tommy Paul is continuing his rise to the top by reaching the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros
Paul beat Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in straight sets in their quarterfinal match-up on Sunday
Andre Agassi was the last American man to reach the French Open quarterfinals back in 2003
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.
Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe are also both still in the men’s singles competition, though the former faces a very tough test against No 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz later on Sunday.
Tiafoe, meanwhile, faces unseeded German Daniel Altmaier for his chance to join Paul in the quarterfinals, with the US giving themselves a strong chance of having some representation in the semifinals.
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, with Gauff seeded No 2 and Pegula No 3.
