Tommy Paul: "I go to sleep wanting to be Matteo Berrettini" 😂

It turns out the toughest loss of Tommy Paul’s career took place off the tennis court when it was revealed the American finished runner-up in the Nothing Major Podcast’s inaugural Hottie Bracket.

“Toughest final of my career, for sure,” joked Paul, who lost the final to Matteo Berrettini. “Tough day, overall. I mean, really tough week!”

Into the fourth round of the 2025 BNP Paribas Open, the former world No. 9 has already made it deep in a decidedly more fickle bracket compiled by former fellow players John Isner, Steve Johnson, Sam Querrey, and Jack Sock. As the top seed, Paul knocked out contenders like Thanasi Kokkinakis, Lorenzo Musetti, and Casper Ruud before falling to the Italian in a brutal match-up.

“I’m really happy for him,” Paul told the Tennis Channel BMW Desk of the part-time BOSS model. “He deserves it.

“I go to sleep every night wanting to be Matteo,” he added with a laugh.

Paul is looking to replicate some of that off-court success at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where he reached the semifinals last year. In fact, his next opponent is his 2024 conqueror Daniil Medvedev, who won the first two games of his third round before Paul’s countryman Alex Michelsen was forced to retire.

The 27-year-old went on to avenge that Indian Wells defeat to Medvedev last spring on clay at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, and is in good position to pull off another upset after a 6-3, 7-5 win over 2021 BNP Paribas Open champ Cameron Norrie.

“I think the best thing I did today was I competed pretty well,” Paul said of his Sunday win.

After falling just short of one Fifth Slam, can Tommy Paul capture another in the desert?