Tommy Paul names two unexpected toughest opponents outside the top 20

Tommy Paul revealed on the Nothing Major podcast that the two players he struggles against the most are surprisingly outside the ATP Tour’s top 20—Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic and Argentine Francisco Cerundolo. Both players rank above stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner when it comes to difficult matchups for the American.

The world No. 9 has had an excellent start to 2025, reaching at least the quarterfinals in all three tournaments he has played so far, holding a solid 9-3 record for the season. Paul also broke into the top 10 after the Australian Open, where he reached the quarterfinals before falling to Alexander Zverev in four sets: 7-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-1. The German would later reach the final, losing to Jannik Sinner.

During his appearance on the podcast hosted by John Isner, Sam Querrey, and company, Paul discussed the rivals he "hates" to play against, naming Kecmanovic and Cerundolo.

Regarding the Serbian, Paul admitted: "Until this year I struggled with Kecmanovic. I lost to him at the Australian Open, 6-0 in the fifth set, that sucked," he said. "I played him in Stockholm this year [2024] and that was the first time I had actually beaten him. For some reason, I really didn’t like playing him very much." The head-to-head between them currently favors Kecmanovic 3-2.

As for world No. 26 Cerundolo, Paul stated: "Me and Cerundolo have great matches, but he has got me on some good wins." The Argentine leads their head-to-head 4-2, having defeated Paul most recently in the third round of the French Open.

Paul’s next challenge will be the ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells, starting on Sunday, March 2, where he will be the 9th seed.

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