Tommy Paul has had an interesting 2026. For the most part, he has either made deep runs at tournaments and made the finals, or he has been bounced out rather quickly. In his opening match at the Citi Open against No. 72-ranked Kamil Majchrzak, Paul was seemingly set on following the pattern of the latter.
The American dropped the opening set 5-7. He wasn't necessarily playing badly, but he was definitely being outplayed in the more important moments late in the set. Paul's issue, as it commonly is during matches he is potentially going to lose, is that he doesn't have enough power to overcome an opponent who is matching his elite movement.
Majchrzak didn't really give Paul a chance to drop the kind of nuance that might give the Polish player issues early on. Instead, Majchrzak was content with getting into extended rallies with the American, even if that forced tight games in a set that could have gone either way.
Kamil Majchrzak defeats Tommy Paul at the 2026 Citi Open
In the second set, Paul increased his accuracy and speed on his serve and landed a few more, reaching nearly double-digit aces. He also kept having to fight off break opportunities by Majchrzak while Paul couldn't get any himself. The match was playing out with Paul seemingly always a half-step behind the Pole.
The second set did finish in a tie-break, though, and Paul jumped out to an early lead, up a mini-break. But the tie-break followed the same trend as the entire match. Just when the American sniffed a little hope, Majchrzak would snuff it out. The Pole was able to race to the end and won five of the final six points to take the tie-break 7-4, and the set and match along with it.
Kamil Majchrzak will next face Taylor Fritz in the round of 16. The two have only played once before, but not since 2022. Fritz should have the advantage, but many might have thought the same in the opening round that Tommy Paul would have the advantage, which didn't work out as many anticipated.
