Match report
Paul saves 3 championship points to win his first ATP Tour clay court title in Houston
American beats Burruchaga in championship match
April 6, 2026
American clay
Tommy Paul celebrates after winning his first title of the season on Sunday in Houston.
By ATP staff
Tommy Paul came as close to defeat as possible on Sunday in Houston, but he refused to concede.
The American saved three championship points to beat Argentina’s Román Andrés Burruchaga 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in the final of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men’s Clay Court Championship to claim his fifth ATP Tour title and first on clay.
“Román, it was an incredible week,” Paul told Burruchaga during the trophy presentation. “Today’s level was really fantastic, a great level.
“You’re playing incredible tennis and that’s only going to get better.”
In their first clash of the Lexus ATP Head2Head series, Burruchaga got an early break in the third set, then held onto three championship points on Paul’s serve, leading 5-3. But the American saved all three, taking advantage of two errors before scoring a volley winner.
Then, the fourth seed played three consecutive games to seal the thriller. Paul ended up crucially saving 9 of the 12 break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Check out Paul’s championship point saves:
Paul secured a fifth consecutive US champion in Houston with his two-hour, 40-minute triumph. The local favorite followed Reilly Opelka (2022), Frances Tiafoe (2023), Ben Shelton (2024) and Jenson Brooksby (2025). With the victory, Paul, 28, became the oldest Houston champion since Juan Mónaco, 32, in 2016.
Paul suffered a heartbreaking quarterfinal loss to Arthur Fils at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami, where the American dropped four match points to lose to the Frenchman. But the former No. 8 player in the PIF ATP Rankings bounced back this week with a title in Houston.
In addition to his triumph in Houston, Paul reached the finals in Delray Beach in February. He is now in eighth place in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin.
Burruchaga was chasing his first title at the circuit level and was aiming to become the fourth first-time champion this season. The Argentine swept the Houston draw, defeating fifth seed Brandon Nakashima in the second round and third seed Learner Tien in the quarterfinals and losing just two games in a resounding semi-final victory against Thiago Agustín Tirante.
With his run to the championship match, Burruchaga has risen 15 spots to No. 62 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
“Congratulations to Tommy, well deserved, it was a great final,” said Burruchaga. “I’m very proud of myself for the week I did it. I’m going to try again, every week we have opportunities.”
Did you know?
Paul earned the first ATP Tour main draw of his career in Houston in 2016, when he defeated Paolo Lorenzi as an 18-year-old.
