Many players dream about competing at a Grand Slam. For Ethan Quinn, it all came true in 2025 when he made his main draw debut at the French Open. He went on to secure a third-round finish in the tournament, defeating Grigor Dimitrov and Alexander Shevchenko in the first two rounds, respectively. Following this, the 22-year-old was eagerly waiting to receive his prize money, that accounted up to €168,000 (roughly $191,000). When the deposit didn’t arrive in his bank account even after a month, he decided to ask Tommy Paul for advice. However, the latter had an entirely different plan in store.

Paul instead decided to play a prank on the rookie. Quinn revealed this when asked if he checks his bank account after competing at a Grand Slam. Turns out that Paul told Quinn that he will have to visit an office in Paris to claim his share of the prize money.

“Yeah, I’m really quick with it. I check it every day, and it’s a really exciting feeling. My ‘welcome to the tour’ moment was that Tommy (Paul) was f****** with my prize money after the French Open. He got me so good with it. He told me when you leave the French Open, you have to go to an office and claim your prize money,” Quinn said on the Nothing Major Show.

Quinn panicked and believed that he had lost out on the massive amount of money just because of a small administrative error. The youngster even texted his coaching and managerial team, asking them if Paul was telling the truth.

“I had been waiting for about a month for the prize money to come in. I was checking every single day, as I had never been in the main draw of the French Open. And then I text Tommy, and he asked me, ‘Oh dude, you didn’t go to the office in Paris?’ and I replied, ‘No dude, I didn’t,’ and he was like, ‘Oh, you probably won’t get your prize money. I just said OK, and in my room I was like ‘Oh my god’. And then I text John, I text Riley, I text Chris, and I’m like, ‘Guys, do I have to sign the prize money in Paris?’,” he continued.

As he desperately continued to wait for answers, Quinn decided to text Paul again to see if he was serious or not. This is where the veteran let him off the hook.

“And then I texted Tommy again, saying, ‘Dude, are you serious?’ and he was like, ‘No, dude, and you’re an idiot. It will be there in a few days.’ But man, I was really stressing out,” he concluded.

Quinn eventually received his money after the French tax authorities took a hefty 40% cut. This isn’t something that the American was used to as he started his collegiate career at the University of Georgia, where a payout of $758 was wired to players almost immediately after an event’s conclusion. It is safe to say that he is a part of the big leagues now.

Coming back, Quinn and Paul have shared a close friendship for the last few years. The two of them have been very active this season, both in singles and doubles competitions. They also formed a doubles pair earlier this season and have featured in multiple tournaments together.

Ethan Quinn and Tommy Paul form an exciting doubles pair in the 2026 season

Quinn and Paul had first featured in a doubles draw at the Brisbane International in January. They went on to defeat the duo of Camilo Ugo Carabelli and Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 in the first round. However, they failed to go beyond this and got knocked out in the second round by the premier seed of the competition, Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash, 7-6, 4-6, 10-0.

The two recently participated in the doubles draw at the Madrid Open, where they got knocked out in the first round. The pair of Mate Pavic and Marcelo Arevalo got the better of them by 6-4, 7-6.

Moreover, Quinn has been participating in both Challenger and ATP tournaments and has had a promising season so far. He has maintained an impressive win-loss record of 18-11 and has even clinched the title at the Challenger event in Phoenix.

On the other hand, Paul has maintained a win-loss record of 17-9 and has come very close to winning the Delray Beach Open. However, he ended up being defeated by Sebastian Korda 4-6, 3-6 in the final. The World No. 18 didn’t have a good start to the clay-court season as he suffered a 5-7, 4-6 defeat against Thiago Agustin Tirante in the first round of the Madrid Open.

What do you think about Quinn and Paul participating together in the doubles draw of the ATP tour? Let us know what you think in the comments!