How Stolen Orthotics Derailed Tommy Paul's 2025 Season

After losing to Jack Draper in the Madrid Masters, Paul's team decided to spend a few extra days in Spain before heading to Italy for the Rome Masters.

"We took a day off, where we didn't go to the courts at all, and then we went out the next day, and we were gonna practice, and then leave the following day to go to Rome. We get to the courts, and I don't think anybody did anything underhanded or anything like that, but all of his stuff was gone from his locker, which included his shoes, and inside of his shoes, his orthotics," explained Stine.

The orthotics were old and broken-in. So, Paul was forced to start breaking in new orthotics and quickly noticed foot discomfort after the first day of training.

Despite working with his physio, Sebastian Cozzarin, Paul was dealing with a lot of pain. This was frustrating as he was playing at a high level, even jumping out to a 6-1 lead against Jannik Sinner in the Rome Masters.

Paul lost the match to Sinner and had two weeks off before Roland Garros. Stine said the entire team was happy about Paul's level of play, but the injury concerns tempered the overall mood.

As soon as they arrived in Paris, Paul underwent an MRI that found an issue with the peroneus longus tendon. The long tendon that ran down the foot caused a lot of pain, most noticeably during the five-set, second-round match against Márton Fucsovics.

Much to the surprise of Stine, Paul played through the pain, including a third-round win against Karen Khachanov. "If you go back and watch the highlights of the match against Khachanov, I certainly didn't think that he was gonna necessarily be able to get through another match."

Paul went on to defeat Khachanov and Alexi Popyrin before losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinal. But his foot issues were just getting started.

Grass Court Season

Paul reached his career-high No. 8 ranking in June, but it only lasted a week because he was unable to compete and defend his title at the Queen's Club Championships.

After suffering a first-round exit in the Eastbourne Open, Paul got another MRI in London before Wimbledon. The results were the same: an ongoing issue with the peroneus longus tendon.

During his match against Sebastian Ofner in the second round of Wimbledon, Paul was serving at five-all when he overextended his foot and completely ruptured the tendon.

"Again, we thought he was going to be done," said Stine. "By the time the trainer came out to the court, he was leaning over and giving us thumbs up and going, like, 'I don't know what's going on, but it feels okay.'"

North American and Asian Swing

Stine recounted, "When we got back to the States, he went and saw a doctor, and the doctor told him that he had basically done self-care, because he said that if he hadn't ruptured the ligament on his own, the doctor would have snipped it when he got back from Wimbledon."

Still, the foot was far from healed. "So, he was in a boot for about 10 days, got an injection to reduce all this swelling and everything. Started hitting balls again, and that's why he missed some of the events in the summer. You know, we started in Cincinnati."

Paul has only played five matches since Wimbledon, with a record of 3-2. The 28-year-old had back-to-back third-round losses in the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open. He has not played a match since his late-night loss to Alexander Bublik on August 30.

Stine concluded his remarks about Paul's health by adding, "He was also really sick. He got whatever it was that a lot of guys got in Acapulco that carried over to Indian Wells.

It's been a weird season. It's been a good season in some ways, been a bad season in some ways, but it's been a weird season, for sure, for us."