ESPNtenis.com July 28, 2023, 2:58 p.m. Reading: 2 min.
Ask for clue. With quality and boldness, Arthur Fils, No. 71 in the ATP ranking, continues to make his way on the professional circuit and is no longer an unknown name in the world of tennis. The Frenchman, just 19 years old, the executioner of Stan Wawrinka in Marseille in February, this Friday achieved another resounding victory for a figure. He now defeated world No. 4 Casper Ruud, his first Top 10 victory, to reach the semifinals at the ATP 500 Hamburg.
Fils achieved his best victory by beating Ruud, ATP No. 4, in Hamburg.Getty Images
The Frenchman’s ATP story began last November, when he entered a main draw for the first time in his career at the Masters 1000 in Paris. In that tournament he received a wildcard to integrate the qualy and surpassed it after defeating the Spanish Jaume Munar and the Italian Fabio Fognini, ex-Top 10 ATP. But in the first round he could not surprise and was eliminated at the hands of, curiously, Fognini himself who entered as Lucky Loser.
After finishing 2022 as number 251 in the world, Fils began his journey in the 2023 season playing the Challengers of Oeiras 2 and Quimper. In those tournaments he became champion of the first and finalist of the second, which guaranteed him to enter the Top 170 for the first time in his career. He continued adding joys and the success over Wawrinka stood out, with a past in the Top 3 in the world, owner of three Grand Slams and a Davis Cup with Switzerland.
He continued firm, releasing his right and adding shooting among the greats, until in Lyon, as a prelude to Roland Garros, he won his only ATP title so far, on a slow courtwith victory over the Argentine ascendant Francisco Cerúndolo in the final.
With uneven steps afterwards, he now shines on the Hamburg clay. In that traditional German tournament, Fils achieved three victories in straight sets, the most important of his life this Friday, over the Norwegian Ruud, a member of the World Top 5 and double Grand Slam finalist in 2022, but with a poor current season.
It was 6-0 and 6-4 for the Frenchman in the quarterfinals, with the presence of the Croatian Ivan Ljubicic on his bench (he is part of the youth program of the French Tennis Federation), the former coach of the Swiss Roger Federer. On Saturday, in the semifinals, the German Alexander Zverev, former ATP No. 2, awaits him, being the favorite of the local public. The Serbian Laslo Djere and the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang appear in the lower sector of the table. So, he goes for another big hit.
2023-07-28 19:24:22
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