Just a little over two hours. This is the time it took for Arthur Fils to take the measure of Marc-Andrea Hüsler in the second round of the ATP 250 tournament in Hong Kong. The Frenchman won in just two sets (7-5, 7-5) but he had to work hard each time to make the difference and take the lead in the quarter-finals.
The first round was undecided for a long time, with Fils even conceding the first break of the match (2-4) in a game marked by a double entry fault then a direct fault. Relying on his first ball and showing opportunism, the 19-year-old Frenchman, seeded number 8 in Hong Kong, then stepped up to win seven games in a row. Winning the first set (after saving two break points before concluding on his first opportunity) then taking the service of Hüsler (194th in the world) in the first game of the second set.
Son could perhaps have made the end of the evening easier if he had converted one of the three double break points at 2-0 in his favor. But Hüsler showed himself to be mentally strong to stay in the match and even come back to level with his opponent at 4-4. As in the first set, Fils was able to place a new thrust at the decisive moment, winning three consecutive games to finish the work on his serve from his first match point. In the quarter-finals, he will face the winner of the match between Andrey Rublev (tournament number 1 seed) and Liam Broady.
