Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz battled to bronze by defeating Czechia’s Adam Pavlasek and Tomas Machac.
After a bittersweet victory to bring about Andy Murray’s retirement, it was all business as Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz steadied themselves for Olympic bronze.
The pair who both have little experience on the doubles circuit managed to put together a tidy display all week and because of their singles success, were seeded third.
Living up to their seeding, they fell to eventual winners John Peers and Matthew Ebden in the semi-finals before beating Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek 6-3, 6-4, in the bronze medal match.
Machac, who won gold in the mixed doubles with partner Katerina Siniakova on Friday, was lethargic in the opening set, and the pair never quite got going until it was too late.
With Paul and Fritz the first and second highest ranked American male players, they have a relationship beyond the court, having first met when they were just teenagers.
Tommy Paul wins bronze with his buddy Taylor Fritz
“It’s been amazing,” Paul said on court after the win.
With the spotlight on the far more experienced doubles pair, silver medallists Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek, the two singles stars only dropped sets in their semi-final defeat.
Paul went on to explain what this win meant to him: “For us to do it together and bring a medal back, it means everything.
“We’ve been as close as it gets since we’ve been 14-15 years old. So, just being on the same team together was super special, but to bring something back to the States means everything.”
Team USA’s Olympic tennis stars had a mixed week, and despite taking away two medals, they will still be disappointed with their singles record.
As Paul and Fritz succumbed in the quarter-finals, Coco Gauff and Danielle Collins also failed to reach the last four, with Emma Navarro and Jessica Pegula seeing even earlier exits.
Can Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz start going deeper at the majors?
For Paul, it’s been a fantastic few months, with a win at Queen’s followed by a run to the last eight at Wimbledon.
While Fritz matched his compatriots run in SW19, defeat in the quarter finals meant it was his fourth major defeat at that stage, with the 26-year-old never reaching the semi-final stage of a grand slam.
The two will be hoping to improve on their US Open runs from 2023, which saw Paul reach the fourth round and Fritz the quarter-finals.
Both certainly have the weapons, but the gulf even between the top three and the bottom seven of the ATP’s top 10 is simply massive, never mind those just outside of it.
With only Daniil Medvedev and Dominic Thiem the two players born in the 1990s to manage to win a grand slam, I unfortunately doubt that Fritz or Paul will be joining them any time soon.
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