Tommy Paul has come a long way having started as an unknown, ranked 1508 in December 2014. A decade down the road, he’s among the top 10 players in the world. The 27-year-old didn’t have a great run at the Australian Open, as he missed out on making the semis, losing to Alexander Zverev in the Round of 8. At the ATP Dallas next, Tommy went a step further and did qualify for the semis, but a straight-set defeat at the hands of Denis Shapovalov ended his campaign in a disappointing fashion again. However, Paul is still thankful. He is loving his time as a sportsperson because not everyone is lucky enough to pursue their passion as a job.

Tommy started the season promisingly. At Adelaide International, he succeeded in reaching the last four and it helped him climb up the ATP rankings as well, as he broke into the top 10, securing the 9th spot before slipping back to 10th. He would have ideally wanted a title win to go with it, but a top-10 spot in itself is never a small feat. Paul is now competing at the Mexican Open where he’s already entered the second round, beating Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 6-2, 6-2.

Although he is enjoying his life as a tennis pro, there was a time when Paul doubted himself. In an interaction with Tennis.com, dated February 24, the American revealed how jealous he was of other kids in college before he got serious about tennis. Recalling his late teenage years, he revealed, “A big part of it for me was from 18 to 21, I saw all my friends in college having the best time and I was like, ‘Oh, I should have done that.’”

So what made him pursue the racket sport? “I saw them all get desk jobs and it became, ‘OK, what I’m doing isn’t so bad.’ Yeah, man, I just started loving going to the practice court and getting better. I really started taking it super seriously.” There you go, Tommy didn’t want a 9 to 5 job. Understandable, isn’t it?

In short, Paul wasn’t into the idea of going through the same, repeated, and boring daily routine. Yes, professional sport is a job, but it has a different dimension to it.” I’m having fun,” Paul says. But do you know there’s something else apart from tennis that gives him endless fun. Any guesses?

Tommy Paul explains the reason behind his go-to activity during tennis breaks

If you have been following Tommy Paul on social media, chances are you already know the answer. It’s fishing! Remember how last year, during the off-season, he went for deep sea fishing before resuming training? In the same interview with Tennis.com, he expanded on this experience saying, “I think a lot of people thought I was just fishing all of December because that’s kind of all I was posting. But I tell everyone, tennis always comes first”

TP mentioned that even during fishing, “I’m thinking about whether it’s going to affect my tennis. And a lot of times, it affects it for the better.” So is that why he keeps going back to it when he’s away from on-court action? Well, sort of. “Before I leave for tournaments, I get a little stressed, or I get kind of locked into practice mode. It’s just tennis, tennis, tennis. My team will be like, ‘All right, Thursday, you’re not playing tennis. Go fishing,’ and it’ll be something that’s really good for me.”

Simply put, it clears up his mind. “It’s like you’re all in on that and you don’t really have time to think about anything else. I love doing it so much and it just fully separates me from my day job,” he added.

Coming back to tennis, Paul will be focusing on his next match at the Mexican Open. On Thursday, he will face compatriot Marcos Giron in the second round. The World No. 10 will have an edge going into this face-off, as he is currently leading the h2h tally 2-1 against Giron. Do you think Paul will easily breeze past Giron to secure a spot in the third round? Let us know in the comments below.