Arthur Fils goes big at the Tokyo final | ATP Tour

Tokio

Fils performs in a big way in the Tokyo final

The French #NextGenATP will fight his compatriot Humbert for the title

September 30, 2024

Arthur Fils will seek his second ATP 500 crown of the season at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships.

The #NextGenATP Frenchman completed an outstanding performance in the Tokyo semifinals against No. 6 seed Holger Rune, whom he ended up defeating in two tight tie-breaks 7-6(8), 7-6(10) in two hours and 23 minutes.

The No. 24 in the PIF ATP Rankings will play this Tuesday in the fourth ATP Tour final and second of his career—and of the season, in an ATP 500, after lifting the title last July on the clay of Hamburg.

Furthermore, at 20 years and three months he became the third youngest player in the history of the tournament, only surpassed by the American Jimmy Arias (1982) who did it at the age of 18 and Juan Martín del Potro, who achieved it in 2008. just a week after turning 20.

To advance to the last round in Tokyo, the Frenchman had to escape several set points against him: one, in the tie-break of the first; and two more, in the second. But he found a way to defeat the Dane in a week in which he has also left out the main favorite Taylor Fritz (No. 7), Matteo Berrettini (former Top 10), Ben Shelton (No. 17) and Rune himself (No. . 14).

In the final he will meet his compatriot Ugo Humbert, ranked No. 19 in the world ranking. If he wins the title, it would be the first time in his career that he has achieved four victories in the same tournament against rivals in the Top 20, surpassing his mark in Hamburg 2024, where he managed to beat Rune (17), Báez (19) and Zverev (4).

“It’s incredible. For now I have never beaten him, so I am going to go out on track without being the favorite,” said Fils about his Lexus ATP Head2Head against Humbert. “We like this position, especially in the final. We will see how it goes.”

And the finalist of the last edition of the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF has an unfavorable head-to-head of 0-3 with his compatriot, who has beaten him twice this year without giving up a set.

Humbert qualified for the final in Tokyo, after beating Czech Tomas Machac 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in one hour and 46 minutes. The Frenchman advanced to the final round of an ATP Tour tournament for the third time in 2024.

“I feel good. It wasn’t my best match this week, but I still won, so I’m very proud of that,” Humbert said. “It wasn’t easy. I had problems in the second set, but in the end, I found the solution and stayed calm. “I’m in my seventh ATP Tour final, so I’m happy.”

“It wasn’t easy, because it didn’t give me much rhythm… At the end of the second set, I tried to talk to myself a little bit. Then, the last four games were incredible,” he added.