Seeded No. 4 in Antwerp, where he achieved his best ranking (38th) thanks to the third round he reached in Shanghai 9 days ago, Arthur Fils inherited a tricky first round against Mark Lajal. Beneficiary of a wild card, the 20-year-old Estonian, 229th in the world, had just won his very first match on the main circuit by dominating Jaume Munar (83rd) 6-3, 6-4 in the previous round. But the Frenchman, winner in two tight sets (7-6 [4]7-6 [2]) deprived him of a second performance at the cost of an intense effort.
A statistic summarizes the difficulties encountered by the Ile-de-France resident: in each set, he had to save 4 break points compared to only one for his opponent over the entire match. Hard-hitting from the baseline and very efficient on serve (7 aces, 67% of first serves), Lajal often took the upper hand in the rally, committing only two unforced errors in the first set.
“He played well to get these break points, I played well to save them”
But he lacked maturity and experience when the opportunities to widen the gap presented themselves to him. “I’ve known him since juniors,” Fils declared on the court. I knew it would be a difficult match. He played well to get these break points, I played well to save them and I had a little luck on some, an ace here, a second ball on the line there… » Winner of his first Challenger this year in Little Rock, Arkansas, Lajal should not stay long on the secondary circuit.
Son, for his part, knew how to ward off the danger by being more solid on the important points, like on this first set ball which he erased at 6-5, with an authoritarian winning service before pocketing the tie-break in the stride. Experience was clearly on his side even though he is a year younger than his opponent.
In the quarter-finals, Fils will face the Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas (69th). After Montpellier, Marseille, Lyon and Hamburg, a fifth semi-final this season beckons.
