Tommy Paul reveals truth about "partying hard" after turning pro and the changes he made over the years: "I lacked structure"

American tennis star Tommy Paul recently spoke about his transition from the junior circuit to the ATP Tour and said he lacked structure in his early days because of his excessive partying. The World No. 9, has been in stellar form this season.

Paul began his 2025 campaign with a semifinal appearance at the Adelaide International and then made a string run into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. The 27-year-old lost to eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev, but it saw him climb to a career-high ranking of 9.

Paul, who is currently dating American influencer Paige Lorenze, was recently a guest on the Nothing Major podcast and spoke about his early days of going pro. The American was supposed to attend the University of Georgia but later turned pro instead after winning the junior French Open in 2015. When asked if he would have gone pro if he had attended college, Paul said:

“Probably not, but I think if I were to do it again, I would've gone to school. I partied just as hard my first two years as a pro as I would've if I went to school. So I don't think there was too much of a difference there. I would've just had to do schoolwork. That's the only difference, I think.” (21:41 onwards)

Tommy Paul was last in action at the Dallas Open last week, where he was seeded third and lost to eventual champion Denis Shapovalov in the semifinals.

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Tommy Paul says he “lacked structure” in his early days as a pro

Tommy Paul in action at the ATP 500 Dallas Open. Source: Getty

Tommy Paul was among the best players in the junior circuit and held the World No. 3 ranking at one point. He turned professional at the age of 18, but the transition was not easy.

In the same podcast episode, Paul noted how excessive partying was one of the major reasons why he struggled while making the switch from high school to the pro circuit:

“I mean, that's part of it. I think I lacked structure in a way. And then also for me, the USTA system was great for me and the juniors, and then when I turned pro, kind of moving out of the USJ and kind of hiring my own coach. Hiring my own team made me not want to waste any practice, made me not want to waste time, and I started training a lot harder.

I started doing the right things a lot more. Probably stopped going out as much, but I mean, I think it was a bunch of things altogether.”

Paul is the second-best ranked American on the circuit now, after World No. 4 Taylor Fritz, and will look to ride the momentum after making a good start to his 2025 season.