Houston, April 6 – Tommy Paul won his first U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship title with a 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Argentina's Roman Andres Burruchaga. This is his fifth ATP Tour title and his first on clay.
The 28-year-old saved three match points on Sunday, overcoming a 3-5 deficit in the third set by winning four consecutive games to secure the title.
Although this was his first clay title, he has been a two-time semifinalist at the Italian Open and a 2025 Roland Garros quarterfinalist.
He is now the only active American to have won titles on clay, grass, and hard courts. Additionally, he is currently the leader in American tour match wins in 2026 with a record of 19-7.
Paul ensured a fifth consecutive American champion in Houston with his two-hour, 40-minute victory. He followed in the footsteps of Reilly Opelka (2022), Frances Tiafoe (2023), Ben Shelton (2024), and Jenson Brooksby (2025). With this win, the 28-year-old Paul became the oldest Houston champion since Juan Monaco, who was 32 years old, in 2016.
After Paul dominated the first set, Burruchaga responded with a steadier second set, extending points and finding his rhythm on return to force a deciding set. The third set became the true test of nerves. Down three match points while trailing 5-3, Paul was simply inches away from defeat. After he forced two errors from Burruchaga in the first two games, Paul rushed the net with a touch volley winner to stay alive.
Paul then took the lead 6-5 before Burruchaga himself staged a mini-comeback and nearly forced a third-set tiebreaker. The Argentine served at 40-0, but Paul dug in point by point and outlasted his opponent to win the final set, 7-5.
Paul will move back inside the Top 20 for the first time since last October, projected to rise to No. 18 in next week's ATP rankings. Meanwhile, Burruchaga will reach a new career-high of No. 62 after entering the tournament ranked No. 77 and cracking the Top 100 for the first time in February.
