Frenchman Arthur Fils (38th player in the world) lost on Sunday in the final of the ATP 250 tournament in Antwerp, against Kazakh Alexander Bublik (36th) 6-4, 6-4, after 1 hour 16 minutes of play.
The French hope, aged 19, failed to win a second trophy after winning in Lyon in May, guilty of far too many mistakes to hope to overthrow his rival. Bublik, uncompromising on serve — 97% of points won behind his first ball (36/37) — seemed to play without any pressure, managing to win the first set 6-4 in 34 minutes, after taking the service of his opponent at 2-2.
In the second set, the Kazakh managed a blank break from the start, allowing him to take the lead and take advantage of Son’s displayed nervousness, as evidenced by this racket smashed by the Ile-de-France native after offering this first game. Bublik, serene but faithful to his whimsical style, did not tremble either when the Frenchman obtained two break points at 3-2 and concluded with his serve.
The Belgian adventure therefore ends for Fils, who played in the second final of his career and confirmed his progress one week before the Masters 1000 at Paris-Bercy. “It was a good week for me, thank you to everyone for pushing me,” he reacted on the court after the match. “We didn’t win the final, but the next one will be the right one.” He leaves with new good performances to his credit, notably a successful semi-final against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (7th), won on Saturday 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4).
Earlier in the season, two months after his first title in Lyon, he reached the semi-final in Hamburg in July. He was also called up for the first time for the French team, to play in the Davis Cup against Great Britain in September. Bublik, for his part, won the third title of his career, after winning in Montpellier (2022) and Halle (2023).