French star Arthur Fils had good reason to shout ‘money’ after his win over Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Swiss Indoors tournament in Basel. The 20-year-old’s rapid ascent on the ATP circuit continued with a 7-6 6-3 win over the third seed, earning him a place in the semi-finals.
The Frenchman has already landed the Hamburg Open and the Japan Open titles this year, and also caught the eye at Wimbledon.
In his best career display in a Grand Slam, he won through to the last-16 before being beaten in four sets by Alex de Minaur.
But his latest tour victory has also secured him a cash bonus, as well as enhancing his reputation. Fils will now finish the campaign with the most points won in ATP 500 events, and appeared fully aware of his feat after seeing off Tsitsipas.
Since losing to Alexander Zverev in the Halle Open in June, Fils has embarked on a 13-match winning streak at ATP level. And after the match the rising star focused on his performance rather than his monetary prize.
“I think I served pretty well,” he said, with Tsitsipas failing to notch a single break point. “I was very focused. I missed a crazy set point, but I am very happy with how I dealt with the tie-break.
“And I think I played pretty good in the second set as well. “I found a way to refocus after missing the first two set points, and I think I did that pretty well overall, so I am happy.”
Fils has also now strengthened his position in the official standings for the ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The Next Gen ATP Finals features the ATP Tour’s eight top 20-and-under players at professional level.
Fils, now ranked 20 in the world, is 1,235 points clear of second-placed Alex Michelse. At the same time, the defeat dented Tsitsipas’ hopes of making a sixth consecutive appearance at the ATP Finals.
In Switzerland, he’ll now face top seed Andrey Rublev or Ben Shelton in the final four. That clash will take place on Saturday afternoon, with the final scheduled for Sunday.
The other remaining quarter-finals see David Goffin taking on Holger Rune, and Denis Shapalov facing French rising star Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Fils has never played against his compatriot on the ATP Tour.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk