Arthur Fils has secured his second ever ATP title in an instant classic over Aleksander Zverev in the Hamburg Final.
In a fiery contest that saw the two players exchange words, Fils was triumphant by overcoming the defending champion, Zverev, in three sets, 6-3,3-6,7-6(1).
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Fils expressed his joy over the result in an interview with the ATP website after the match.
“I am really happy about the way I played during the 3 hours and a half” he said. “I did everything to win this match”.
“In the first set I took control of the match and played great. In the second set he managed to play better than me and raise his level. When we closed the roof, I knew it was going to be a dogfight until the very end”.
An explosive start from Fils saw him capture an early break, which sent him on his way to take the first set. Zverev showed signs of a resurgence by breaking the Frenchman in the second and forcing a deciding set.
A ruthless final display saw Fils eventually clinch the championship in a match tiebreak.
Fils faced a total of 22 break points during the match, but Zverev was only able to convert on one. The ability of Fils to save multiple break points emphasises his mental strength and composure in crucial points.
This ultimately proved costly for Zverev who had a conversion rate of just 5% on break points and was unable to capitalise.
It was during one of these break points that saw Zverev take issue with Fils for attempting to perform an underarm serve at 30-40 with the score in games tied at 5-5.
Despite the attempt failing, Zverev appeared visibly annoyed with Fils’s effort and gave the 20-year-old a cold handshake at the end of the match.
All seemed well and good after the match as Zverev admitted that the serve was a smart play in his post-match press conference.
“It wasn’t disrespectful, he can do what he wants. It wasn’t a bad tactical choice” he commented.
This is a very first ATP 500 title for Arthur Fils whose previous title came at the Lyon 250 event in 2023.
The future appears very bright for Fils. He has given himself good preparation for the upcoming Olympic games, where he will be representing the host nation France.