First match of the season for Arthur Fils. Seeded number 4 in the Hong Kong ATP tournament, the Frenchman was exempt from the first round and entered the competition directly in the round of 16.
His first opponent in 2025 is Zizou Bergs, who defeated Moro Canas in the first round (6-4, 6-4).
The 20-year-old got the best start and quickly took his opponent’s serve, but he was unable to complete the set.
On his first break point of the set, the Belgian managed to come back to snatch a decisive game. It was the French player who was the strongest to win the first round 7-6 (9 points to 7 in the deciding game).
In the second, the scenario seemed to repeat itself since the winner of Hamburg and Tokyo in 2024 quickly took the lead, but Bergs quickly broke away.
But this time, the Frenchman was able to make the difference a second time and kept his commitment until the end.
Arthur Fils won (7-6, 6-4 in 1h39) and qualified for the quarter-finals.
Good news for French tennis, he will meet Alexandre Muller, who defeated Miomir Kecmanovic a little earlier in the day after a marathon of more than three and a quarter hours (5-7, 7-6, 7-6).
A French player will therefore compete in the last four in Hong Kong. The two men faced each other in Rome last year, and it was Muller who won in two sets.
This is their only confrontation on the ATP circuit so far. This will be an opportunity for Son to take his revenge.
For Muller, the challenge will be to reach his first semi-final on the ATP circuit since Marrakech in April 2023 (he finally played in the final).
