A pair of maiden grass-court titles for Tommy Paul and Jessica Pegula provided the perfect Wimbledon preparation for both Americans. Champions in London and Berlin, respectively, both beat compatriots in the semifinals—Paul against Sebastian Korda and Pegula opposite Coco Gauff—before claiming trophies on Sunday at the 500-level events.
Paul won the biggest ATP Tour title of his career at Queen’s Club, where he defeated Lorenzo Musetti, 6-1, 7-6(8) in the championship match. His third tour-level singles title also earned him the honor of becoming the No. 1 American man, moving him ahead of Taylor Fritz to world No. 12, matching his career-high ATP ranking.
“Obviously it’s an honor to become the No. 1 American, but we both have big goals and we want to be in the Top 10 [of the] rankings,” Paul said of Fritz, who reached the London doubles final alongside Karen Khachanov. “That’s where both of us want to be.”
Another American, world No. 30 Frances Tiafoe, provided Paul with some comedic relief and inspiration ahead of the final.
“All the Americans are pretty close,” Paul explained. “We push each other with results, I would say. It’s definitely a healthy competition between us.
“Frances texted me last night and he sent the funniest message, actually. He was like, ‘Finish your food,’ because every time he’s playing, he always says, ‘Eat,’ kind of like motivation. He said, ‘Finish your food,’ last night. I took that and kind of ran with it.”
Paul is now a three-time ATP Tour singles champ, with the London ATP 500 title added to his ATP 250 triumphs in Stockholm (2021) and Dallas (2024). He also reached the Delray Beach final this February immediately after his Dallas run, winning seven consecutive matches across the two events on home soil.
Pegula, in just her second tournament back after missing the WTA Tour’s European clay swing with a rib injury, won the Berlin title in dramatic fashion. The American pulled double duty on the tournament’s final day, beating top seed Gauff in a rain-delayed semifinal before saving five match points to edge Anna Kalinskaya in the championship round.
A pair of maiden grass-court titles for Tommy Paul and Jessica Pegula provided the perfect Wimbledon preparation for both Americans. Champions in London and Berlin, respectively, both beat compatriots in the semifinals—Paul against Sebastian Korda and Pegula opposite Coco Gauff—before claiming trophies on Sunday at the 500-level events.
Paul won the biggest ATP Tour title of his career at Queen’s Club, where he defeated Lorenzo Musetti, 6-1, 7-6(8) in the championship match. His third tour-level singles title also earned him the honor of becoming the No. 1 American man, moving him ahead of Taylor Fritz to world No. 12, matching his career-high ATP ranking.
“Obviously it’s an honor to become the No. 1 American, but we both have big goals and we want to be in the Top 10 [of the] rankings,” Paul said of Fritz, who reached the London doubles final alongside Karen Khachanov. “That’s where both of us want to be.”
Another American, world No. 30 Frances Tiafoe, provided Paul with some comedic relief and inspiration ahead of the final.
“All the Americans are pretty close,” Paul explained. “We push each other with results, I would say. It’s definitely a healthy competition between us.
“Frances texted me last night and he sent the funniest message, actually. He was like, ‘Finish your food,’ because every time he’s playing, he always says, ‘Eat,’ kind of like motivation. He said, ‘Finish your food,’ last night. I took that and kind of ran with it.”
Paul is now a three-time ATP Tour singles champ, with the London ATP 500 title added to his ATP 250 triumphs in Stockholm (2021) and Dallas (2024). He also reached the Delray Beach final this February immediately after his Dallas run, winning seven consecutive matches across the two events on home soil.
Pegula, in just her second tournament back after missing the WTA Tour’s European clay swing with a rib injury, won the Berlin title in dramatic fashion. The American pulled double duty on the tournament’s final day, beating top seed Gauff in a rain-delayed semifinal before saving five match points to edge Anna Kalinskaya in the championship round.
Against her longtime doubles partner and compatriot Gauff, Pegula earned a 7-5, 7-6(2) win to score her first Top 10 win of the year and improve to 4-1 in their head-to-head series. As tight as that match was, it was a breeze compared to the final.
In a 6-7(0), 6-4, 7-6(3) victory against Kalinskaya, Pegula saved five match points in the final set to win her fifth career title and her first of 2024. After battling back from 4-1 down in the third, Pegula saved four match points at 5-4 and another at 6-5. From 3-2 down in the decisive tiebreak, Pegula’s consistency under pressure helped her win the last five points of the contest.
“I knew I could play well on this surface and giving myself a couple of extra weeks on grass clearly paid off,” Pegula said of her Berlin run. “I played some really good tennis this week and I feel like I beat some really good girls, especially on grass. To be able to gut out a win like that is cool.”
The victory solidified Pegula’s place at No. 5 in the WTA rankings, two spots off her career high of No. 3, first achieved in 2022. Next up for the American is Wimbledon, where she reached the singles quarterfinals for the first time last season.
“This is the most grass-court confidence that I’ve had probably going into Wimbledon,” Pegula said. “Hopefully that pays off as well. Being able to tough out a couple of matches and have a couple of long matches, especially for the body to get ready, and dealing with a lot of the rain delays too. That’s always possible at Wimbledon as well, so that was good prep mentally as well.
“I feel like I’ve been through a lot this week, so if I could handle this week I think at Wimbledon I should feel pretty good.”
Pegula is set for the fifth seed at Wimbledon, where she will be one of five seeded American women alongside Gauff, Danielle Collins, Madison Keys and Emma Navarro. Five American men will also be seeded at the All England Club: Paul, Fritz, Ben Shelton, Korda and Tiafoe.
Play begins on July 1 at the grass-court Grand Slam.
