Taylor Fritz ended Arthur Fils‘ run with a 6-3, 6-4 victory on Thursday night on the court Central at the Rolex Paris Masters, keeping the American’s hopes alive for the ATP Finals in Turin, according to Tennis Majors.
Taylor Fritz entered the match as the 11th seed while Arthur Fils was the sixth seed.
The straight-sets defeat marked the 100th Masters 1000 match win for Fritz. Univers Tennis reported that the eight singles players for the upcoming ATP Finals are now confirmed, with Rafael Jodar claiming the final qualification spot for the season-ending tournament. If Fils had won, Frances Tiafoe would have qualified on Thursday night.
Fils entered Thursday’s contest following an intense Wednesday schedule where he officially secured his spot in Turin during the afternoon before defeating Tomas Machac in the evening. Following that victory, Fils signed the camera with the phrase “Ici c’est Paris”.
“Ce n’est pas comme si j’avais fait un mauvais match. C’est juste lui qui a été plus fort que moi, qui a mieux servi et mieux retourné. Ça fait deux breaks au final, 6-3, 6-4. Pas grand-chose à dire,” Fils said.
Fils did not earn a single break point during the match, one week after his retirement against Fritz in the quarterfinals at Basel when he trailed 6-2, 2-0. Fritz dictated play from the baseline by winning 41 of his 51 total service points, including 11 out of 12 points on his second serve.
The American struck 14 aces compared to six for the Frenchman, and hit 27 winners against 15 for Fils, with both players committing 16 unforced errors. On return, the Frenchman won only one of the 12 points played on Fritz’s second serve.
“C’est comme ça que je veux jouer, c’est mon style de tennis : très bien servir, très bien retourner et être agressif. Les conditions étaient rapides, et j’ai senti que la vitesse du court me permettait vraiment de dérouler mon jeu et d’être récompensé quand je prenais l’initiative,” Fritz told Tennis Majors after securing the victory.
After Fils saved two break points in the opening game of the second set, Fritz added a second break at 1-1 in the second set to neutralize the vocal home crowd at Bercy attempting to support the Frenchman with chants of “Allez Arthur !”
Fils, who has known Van Assche since their junior categories, stated he was not surprised to see him reach the quarterfinals, noting that he has always been a very, very good player with immense qualities. Fils becomes the first Frenchman to qualify for the year-end ATP Finals since Gaël Monfils achieved the feat in 2016.
Friday’s quarterfinal lineup at the Rolex Paris Masters features Ben Shelton, seeded third, facing 12th seed Tommy Paul on court Central at 14h local time on Friday, November 6, followed by Luca Van Assche meeting qualifier Rinky Hijikata.
In the evening sessions, second seed Carlos Alcaraz plays 11th seed Taylor Fritz not before 19h following Alcaraz advancing without playing due to Matteo Berrettini’s withdrawal, and lucky loser Nuno Borges takes on Casper Ruud not before 20h30.
Fritz fends off Fils 👏@Taylor_Fritz97 takes out French No. 1 Arthur Fils to book a place in the #RolexParisMasters quarter-finals where he'll face Carlos Alcaraz 👀 pic.twitter.com/jHcVlrwEr1
