Arthur Fils makes French history in Paris

Arthur Fils further outlined his credentials as one of France’s hottest prospects on Tuesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he became the youngest home star to record a main-draw win at the ATP Masters 1000 event since Richard Gasquet in 2006.

The 20-year-old Fils overcame Croatian Marin Cilic 7-6(5), 6-4 to reach the second round in Paris.

Courtside win with @ArthurFils1 ?

The home crowd is loving it ???@RolexPMasters | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/ZxcAbgopzJ

In a high-energy display inside Court Central, Fils rallied from a break down at 5-6 in the first set and then upped the aggression during a second set in which he notched 11 winners in the set to advance past Cilic. He recorded victory in one hour and 35 minutes in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

Fils, who is first in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, has earned 36 tour-level wins this season. No Frenchman has recorded more victories in 2024, with Ugo Humbert second on 35.

Fils has won ATP 500 titles in Hamburg and Tokyo this year and will continue the quest for his first ATP Masters 1000 crown when he takes on Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round.

The big-serving German defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2, ending the Italian’s faint hopes of competing at the Nitto ATP Finals in November. Struff fired nine aces and won 82 per cent (37/45) of his first-serve points in his 77-minute win.

Hubert Hurkacz’s Turin hopes also came to an end on Tuesday morning in Paris. #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen dispatched the Pole 6-1, 6-3 to reach the second round on debut in the French capital.

Hurkacz arrived in Paris 13th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and required a final run at the indoor hard event to have any chance of playing in northern Italy next month. Andrey Rublev (3,720 points) currently occupies the final qualification spot in eighth, with fifth-placed Taylor Fritz (4,300 points), seventh-placed Casper Ruud (3,855 points), ninth-placed Alex de Minaur (3,555 points), 10th-placed Grigor Dimitrov (3,150 points) and 12th-placed Stefanos Tsitsipas (3,015 points) all still alive in Paris.

Michelsen, second in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, will meet Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the second round. The 20-year-old has reached tour-level finals in Newport and Winston-Salem in 2024.

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