This performance that the French tennis prodigy Arthur Fils can achieve in Montpellier

Europe 1 with AFP 10:06 p.m., February 09, 2023

Current 163rd in the world, the right-hander from Ile-de-France, who will face a compatriot, Quentin Halys, in the quarter-finals of the Montpellier tournament, can dream of becoming the first player born in 2004 to win an ATP tournament.

And this on his second try only.

His first appearance in a final table, Arthur Fils made it last fall, at the Masters 1000 of Paris-Bercy: a defeat in three sets, in the 1st round, against the Italian Fabio Fognini.

Already, he had been able to measure the progress made, less than two years after becoming the 4th tricolor to win the Orange Bowl, the famous junior tournament, in December 2020. From Bercy, the young Frenchman of 1.85 gave me another a boost to his career, to the point of getting ahead of the goals set by his coach Laurent Raymond, former coach of Corentin Moutet.

"I have only lost one match since the start of the season so my confidence is really very high", reacted Arthur Fils after his victory in the first round of the Open Sud de France on Monday.

His victim?

A certain Richard Gasquet, the former N.1 hope of French tennis, winner of his 16th ATP title in early January in Auckland.

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"He hits hard"

Beaten 7-5, 7-5 in "his" tournament, which he won three times, the Héraultais assured him.

Son "plays well, he hits hard, he is fast. He has a very good future".

"I can't say how far he will go, but he will go high. He has the right mentality and that is certainly the most important thing," added the experienced Gasquet.

Beating the former world number 7 "gives even more confidence", for his part soberly commented Arthur Fils, who above all endeavored not to make his prestigious elder lie.

He immediately followed on Wednesday, beating the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, 24th in the world and seeded number 4, in the second round, his greatest achievement to date.

At the end of a complete and controlled match (6.3, 6-4), the native of Essonne savored: "I played without making mistakes, with a lot of winning shots and sometimes a big serve ", the figures confirm, with 8 aces and first balls at more than 200 km / h.

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"Emulation"

These qualities had already enabled Arthur Fils to distinguish himself in the youth categories.

After the Orange Bowl, this fan of Roger Federer, one of his illustrious predecessors on the list, had reached the Roland-Garros final in 2021, beaten by his compatriot Luca Van Assche, with whom he trains regularly at the National Center for 'coaching.

World number 3 among juniors this same year 2021, Son is now the best ranked at ATP among the "2004 generation"... behind this same Luca Van Assche (number 145).

A training comrade he is sure to overtake next Monday thanks to his career in Montpellier.

Still far, it is true, from the first of the representatives of the previous generation (2003), the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, 2nd player in the world.

But "there is a beautiful generation coming. There is a very positive emulation", judged Arthur Fils at the beginning of January.

Can he go all the way in Montpellier?

Before thinking about it, Fils can tick an additional box on Friday in the progress chart for his season recently detailed by his coach at Le Parisien: after a Challenger title (Oeiras, in Portugal) and a victory on the main circuit, a last four in an ATP tournament.

The next step will then be "a first match in (final table of) Grand Slam".