"All of his stuff was gone from his locker" - Tommy Paul's coach Brad Stine makes concerning revelation amid American's injury woes

Tommy Paul's coach Brad Stine made a worrying revelation concerning the American amid his injury-plagued 2025 tennis season. Paul, despite achieving a career-high ranking of World No. 8 earlier this year, hasn't been able to play as much as he would have liked so far in 2025 due to a combination of illness and a severe, persistent foot injury.

Stine recently featured as a guest on an episode of the The Inside-In Tennis Podcast. Here, the veteran coach revealed that in the aftermath of Paul's exit from this year's Madrid Open, the American's team shockingly discovered that his possessions were missing from his locker. The missing possessions included the ATP star's shoes and its orthotics, which aided him significantly in playing despite his foot injury.

"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," Stine said.

"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," he added.

The discovery led to Tommy Paul having to switch to new orthotics, which resulted in the American feeling considerable discomfort in his affected foot once more. He had grown comfortable with the old orthotics because they had been broken in through sustained use. Subsequent MRI scans revealed that Paul was suffering from an ongoing problem in his peroneous longus tendon.

Tommy Paul absent so far during Asian swing; American yet to play since loss to Alexander Bublik at US Open

Tommy Paul (left) and Alexander Bublik (right) after the conclusion of their third-round match at the 2025 US Open (Source: Getty)

Despite his persistent foot troubles, Tommy Paul played at two events during this year's North American summer hardcourt swing; the Cincinnati Open and the US Open. At Cincinnati, he suffered a third-round loss to Adrian Mannarino and then arrived at the US Open as the No. 14 seed.

After winning his first and second-round matches at Flushing Meadows, Paul clashed against Alexander Bublik in the third round. The American and the Kazakh produced a thrilling five-set encounter. However, ultimately, it was Bublik who came out on top with a 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1 victory.

In the last set, Paul's movement was severely compromised, while his Kazakh opponent took full advantage of the situation. Since his heartbreaking exit in New York, the American is yet to feature in competitive action. He will most likely miss the entirety of the ATP Tour's ongoing Asian swing, with its most prestigious event, the Shanghai Masters, just around the corner.