For the first time in his young career, Arthur Fils has reached the quarter-finals of an ATP Tour grass court tournament. After fending off four break points in his first service game and then taking a 1:0 lead, the 20-year-old was completely unconcerned. He boldly sent Dominik Koepfer from one corner of the court to the other. As a result, he managed the first break of the match at 3:2. The German, who would also have liked to reach the quarter-finals of an ATP tournament for the first time, fought back and had a break point at 3:5. However, the Frenchman secured the set by winning the next three points.
But the last three points of the first round were not enough: nine more followed in succession. And so Arthur Fils was one break ahead again in the second set. Domink Koepfer again tried to equalise with a break. He did not succeed. The Frenchman was too confident, did not allow the German a chance to break in his remaining five service games and converted his third match point after 79 minutes to make it 6:3, 6:4.
The last time Andrey Rublev was younger than Arthur Fils in the quarter-finals of the grass court tournament in Halle was in 2017. If Alexander Zverev wins his round of 16 match, the young Frenchman can look forward to a match against the world number four.
