The rapid rise of Arthur Fils continued unabated Friday at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille. The #NextGenATP Frenchman dispatched former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3 at the indoor hard-court event to reach his second consecutive ATP Tour semi-final.
Fils’ converted four of 12 break points in his dominant 66-minute victory to underline his status as one of the breakout stars of 2023 so far. The 18-year-old is 5-1 on the ATP Tour after reaching the semi-finals in Montpellier and now in Marseille. He also began the season by going 9-1 on the ATP Challenger Tour.
In a dominant quarter-final performance, Fils dropped just one point behind his first serve against Wawrinka, who struggled to find his best form after coming through tough-three-setters against Zizou Bergs and Richard Gasquet in his opening two rounds.
The home wild card Fils later admitted that it felt slightly surreal to defeat a three-time Grand Slam champion, for whom he served as a hitting partner just under four months ago at November’s Rolex Paris Masters. Fils made his ATP Tour main draw debut as a qualifier at that event, where he pushed Fabio Fognini to three sets in the first round.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Fils. “I was watching him [Wawrinka] play during all my young career. I was hitting in Bercy with him as a sparring partner, and now I beat him. It’s a long way, a long way for my coach and my family, but it’s not over yet and I want to enjoy more.”
Arthur with an arrow 🏹@Open13 | #open13provence | @ArthurFils1 pic.twitter.com/3cFBuvqjMZ
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 24, 2023
Fils only registered his maiden ATP Tour victory 18 days ago. Now a two-time semi-finalst, the 18-year-old has already demonstrated his ability to consistently compete against some of the best players on Tour.
“[My progress is] fast, but I can be faster, so I will try to be,” said Fils of his rapid rise. “I will try to enjoy every moment on the court, as I did today, and I’m very happy with the crowd and everything.”
Fils’ run in Marseille so far has lifted the Frenchman 14 spots to No. 104 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. Should he defeat his fellow Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in Saturday’s semi-finals, Fils will break the Top 100 for the first time.
Bonzi booked his own spot in the final by upsetting third seed Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-4 in the final match of the day in Marseille. The 26-year-old broke his Australian opponent’s serve four times in a one-hour, 40-minute win, just his second against a Top 25 opponent in 11 attempts.
The World No. 60 Bonzi will be bidding to reach his second ATP Tour final when he steps on court against Fils. He also reached the championship match in Pune in January, when he fell in three sets to Tallon Griekspoor.
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