Arthur Fils, 36th player in the world, qualified for the final of the Next Gen ATP Finals, the Masters for under-22s, by dominating his compatriot Luca Van Assche 2-4, 4-1, 4-3 (7/1 ), 4-3 (8/6), Friday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The two hopes of French tennis had only met once, in the final of the Roland-Garros junior tournament, in 2021. Van Assche won in two sets (6-4, 6-2). Friday in Jeddah, Fils, seeded N.1, took a stunning revenge under the eyes of his new coaches, Sébastien Grosjean and Sergi Bruguera. In the first set, however, the Parisian, who came out of the group phase with three victories in as many matches, was broken at 2-2 by the 70th in the world, who confirmed in the process to pocket the first set without trembling (4-2).
From the next round, Son bared his fangs, unleashing powerful punches and finding angles out of his opponent’s reach. Which allowed him to race in the lead before taking the latter’s service to lead 3-1 and conclude to come back level with his friend. The two young Frenchmen then went blow for blow, each of the protagonists trying to maintain their stake. The exchanges then became intense, but it was ultimately Fils who won this standoff.
The third set experienced the same scenario, Fils relying more on his forehand which did damage and above all which pulled him out of a very bad situation, when he found himself two break points away. It was then that he released a devastating forehand followed by an ace at 217 km/h to snatch the tie-break. Van Assche, who had spent 2h36 on the court the previous evening against Alex Michelsen to secure his qualification for the semi-finals, seemed to suffer the blow but he applied himself well in the crucial moments like the point won for snatch the tie-break after saving a first match point.
While leading 4-1 in the deciding game, a little relaxation from Son allowed his opponent to get back to 4-4 and even save three new match points but he failed on the next one. This “Next Gen Masters” serves as a laboratory for the establishment of new rules: sets in 4 winning games, elimination of the advantage at 40-A, reduction of time to serve… Arthur Fils will face the Serbian Hamad Medjedovic (110th) in the final world) or the Swiss Dominic Stricker (94th), opposed in the second semi-final.
