Tommy Paul suffered a devastating quarterfinal exit at the 2026 Miami Open against Frenchman Arthur Fils. The American was in great form and was looking to make a deep run at the tournament, but the 21-year-old had other plans. Following the match, Coco Gauff’s former coach, Brad Gilbert, shared his thoughts, giving a “brutal” review.
Brad Gilbert Calls Tommy Paul’s Miami Open Loss to Arthur Fils “Brutal”
Paul had defeated the 29th seed Tomás Martín Etcheverry in the Round of 16 on March 24 to secure his spot in the quarterfinals. Fils, on the other hand, overcame the 24th seed Valentin Vacherot in a three-set match to set this clash.
When both players set foot on the court, the tennis world wasn’t expecting what they witnessed. All three sets went into a tiebreak, with no one looking to back down from the semifinal spot. However, it was the Frenchman who shone through, upsetting the local favorite to secure a 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 7-6(6) win in just under three hours while saving four match points on the way.
Immediately after the match, which kept the fans on their toes, Gilbert took to X, sharing his thoughts on the American’s defeat. “that’s a rough beat for TP up 6-2,” he wrote, addressing Paul as TP.
When a fan replied to this tweet, sharing their disbelief at Paul losing four match points and six points in a row, Gilbert couldn’t help but agree and write, “brutal beat.” This simple reply was enough to share what the tennis community had just witnessed, capturing everyone’s emotion in just two words.
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The quarterfinal clash between these two top-ranked players was not a normal tennis match; it was a battle of mental strength and physical resilience. Both players held serve in the first set, forcing a tiebreak, which Paul won by winning six consecutive points and then serving out to secure a 1-0 lead.
The second set went exactly the same: both players holding serve, forcing a tiebreak. However, this time the Frenchman bounced back, winning five out of the last six points to level the match 1-1. In the decider, Fils had a match point in the 12th game when Paul was serving, but he failed to capitalize, forcing another tiebreak.
In the tiebreak, both players were at 2-2 when Paul decided to reel off four consecutive points, similar to the first-set tiebreak, to take a formidable 6-2 lead and reach match point. However, Fils, who had been delivering impressive performances this season, locked in completely and won the next six points consecutively, saving four match points in total, to win the match 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 7-6(6).
With this win, the Frenchman reached his first semifinal of an ATP Masters 1000 event after losing in four quarterfinals previously. He suffered a lower-back stress fracture during last year’s Roland Garros, forcing him to end his season early and withdraw from the US Open.
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He returned to the ATP Tour in February this year at the Open Occitanie, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Félix Auger-Aliassime. He then delivered a notable runner-up finish in Qatar, bowing out against World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz. In Indian Wells, he reached the quarterfinals but lost to Alexander Zverev right before arriving in Miami.
The 21-year-old will now take on the 21st seed Jiří Lehečka in the semifinals on Friday, March 27, with PFSN’s exclusive interactive simulator predicting a 60% chance of him reaching his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final.
