By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Wimbledon—Playing a home Monday on Tuesday didn’t faze Tommy Paul.
Neither did inadequate AC.
No. 13-seeded Paul made quick work of British wild card Johannus Monday 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 cruising into the Wimbledon second round for the fourth time.
An old tennis adage reminds: What you don’t know can hurt you.
The 2024 Queen’s Club champion Paul didn’t know much about Monday, but said he picked up on the left-hander’s service patterns pretty quickly.
“I broke I think third game of the match, second or third game,” Paul said. “So I mean, I think he gave me a lot of missed first serves in that game. Maybe a little bit of nerves from him.
“Then from there I was able to really figure out his game a little bit more without pressure on me, and kind of had that whole first set to really kind of pick up his patterns. I mean, he actually served great for the rest of that set. I just didn’t really give him too many looks on my serve after that. Then through the rest of the match I felt like I had a decent idea of what service patterns he liked.”
Though long-time Florida resident Paul typically is accustomed to training in harsh hea, on a stifling day today he felt the British players had the edge.
That’s because Paul isn’t accustomed to sleeping without air conditioning and reported the portable AC units he rented didn’t really cool him down much last night.
“We were joking around about it this morning. We were saying I think the heat during the match is an advantage to me, because I just came from Florida two weeks ago,” Paul said. “But the heat during the night last night was an advantage for all the Brits, because I guess they’re used to sleeping with no AC, and I am not.”
No sleeping on Paul’s first-week prospects: He will face 165th-ranked Sebastian Ofner for a spot in round three.
The 29-year-old Ofner led Hamad Medjedovic 7-6(8), 3-1, when the Serbian was forced to retire with a right leg injury after falling to the grass twice in a two-game span.
