It is undoubtedly this type of victory that we can best measure the recent progress of Arthur Fils. Not very successful in Majors so far, except at Wimbledon last year (round of 16), the Frenchman was able to come out of a tricky and poorly started match against the Finn Otto Virtanen with patience and method. The number 20 seed won in four sets (3-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4) and 2h45 of playing time. In the 2nd round, he will face Quentin Halys or the Australian Adam Walton.
Would he have won this match last year in similar conditions? Difficult to say but, this Sunday, Fils showed real maturity to win a duel that got off to a bad start. Facing the Finnish bomber, the 20-year-old kid started timidly, beaten with blows by an enterprising and very powerful Virtanen. In the past, notably during his defeats against Arnaldi (US Open 2023, Roland-Garros 2024) or Griekspoor (Australian Open 2024), Son had a tendency to lose the pin and lose the thread of a Grand Slam match. Not this time. Very intelligent tactically, he saved what could be saved for almost two sets before releasing a truly astonishing tie-break of maturity to equalize this match (3-6, 7-6).
The rest was an uneventful match with Virtanen suddenly much less precise and Son still as serious in heated moments. Like last year, here he is in the 2nd round. But, something has changed. Faced with Walton or Halys, he will have a real card to play. The third potential fratricidal round against Ugo Humbert is not very far away.
Related News :