Tommy Paul staged a massive return to form last week, capturing his fifth career ATP title by defeating Roman Andres Burruchaga 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 to win the 2026 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston, breaking a singles title drought that stretched all the way back to the 2024 Stockholm Open. But maybe the secret behind his victory was “getting dumped” by his good friend and fellow tennis star Jessica Pegula.
How Tommy Paul Rebounded in Houston After Jessica Pegula’s Podcast Jabs
Pegula has been riding high on the 2026 WTA Tour. She reached the quarterfinals of the Miami Open before falling to Elena Rybakina and successfully defended the Charleston Open title.
However, that clinical singles precision didn’t quite translate to her mixed doubles partnership with Paul. After hyping their 2025 U.S. Open pairing as a high-profile opportunity, the duo hit a slump by March.
This led Pegula to announce she was officially done teaming up with a “distraught” Paul on the “Players Box” podcast.
“Tommy’s great. Love Tommy. I think we all love Tommy here. He is a lot of fun. Good energy. But I think we might be done. I don’t know if we’re meant to play mixed together,” Pegula said.
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“He was a little distraught because, besides making the one year, the finals with Madi, he’s lost the first round the three other years. Two of them with me. One, I think with Sloane (Stephens), he said, and then he also came from the MGM slam thing. It was a 10-point tiebreaker tournament, and he lost the first round there, and he said he got killed like 10-3 by Fritz. So, he’s just like, ‘I just really want to win these 10-point tiebreakers. I’m so sick of losing these.'”
Paul commented on social media, “Did I just get dumped?!” Pegula playfully shot back that he should pair up with Madison Keys instead.
Tennis reporter Blair Henley highlighted how brilliantly the American responded on the court. “We saw that in Houston as well with Tommy Paul, who, funny enough, Jess joked on ‘The Players Box’ podcast about dumping him as a mixed doubles partner,” Henley said, talking to Kim Clijsters and Carl Maes on the “Love All” podcast. “Tommy has rebounded.”
At the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston, facing the 24-year-old Argentine, Paul was pushed to the limit. After Burruchaga engineered three championship points while leading 5-3 in the deciding set, Paul dug deep. He erased all three match points, broke his opponent’s serve, and rattled off four consecutive games to snatch the trophy.
Next up, both Americans will play at the Madrid Open and look to leverage their early-season momentum on the road to Roland Garros.
