Buddies!

Quinn and Paul played the Rome Masters 1000 doubles together and they have to face each other as soon as this Sunday in Hamburg. It’s never easy to play against a guy you know really well.

If I’m not mistaken, they even shared a coach and often played together. They must know each other inside out, without a doubt.

They’ve already faced each other twice on the main tour and Paul leads 2–0, with an easy win on grass in 2023 and a very tight match in Dallas in 2025, but that was on indoor hard. This time, they’re moving to outdoor clay, in much slower conditions with a high bounce.

For his return to competition since Houston, Paul played Rome and lost to Darderi, but the level of play was very high. It was mainly physically that he couldn’t maintain the pace over time. I saw a great Paul, very committed and very good in the rallies. I consider him one of my potential dark horses for this Hamburg tournament, which looks very open.

As for Quinn, he lost in the first round in Rome, but to Llamas Ruiz, who played at a high level all week, so it’s not such a terrible loss. Before that, he had a good Challenger tournament in Aix-en-Provence, and a decent tournament in Barcelona. He’s already shown that he can play very well on clay and could have a good week, even if for me there is still a big gap in level with Paul on this surface. I’m afraid it’ll be a bit too slow for him and that Paul will play just a bit too well.