The young Frenchman Arthur Fils lost without merit in three sets 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, Monday against the number 12 seed, the American Tommy Paul, in the third round of the Shanghai Masters 1000.
Dominated in the first set, the 19-year-old managed to put the American in doubt in the second set, saving two match points during the tie-break, which he finally won 9/7. In the deciding set, however, the Frenchman had to give up his throw at the worst time, at 4 all, finally losing 6-4 after 2 hours 45 minutes of the match.
Despite this defeat, Fils will take advantage of the two rounds he spent in Shanghai, after notably beating the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich, seeded N.24, in the second round: currently 44th in the world, he is sure to continue his progress since he will reach at least 38th place next Monday.
Tommy Paul, for his part, will face the winner of the match between French number one Adrian Mannarino (23rd) and Russian Andrey Rublev, 7th in the ATP rankings, in the next round.
