Rolex Paris Masters I Arthur Fils loses to Alexander Zverev in the round of 16

A little short, young man. A little blunt, perhaps, too. Arthur Fils held on, he fought back but he ended up giving in to Alexander Zverev on Thursday in the round of 16. A defeat in three sets (6-4, 3-6, 6-3) rather logical, at the end of a match having lacked a little breath and scope to really thrill and ignite the Accor Arena, even if the young Frenchman tried to play with the audience to find the energy he lacked. But unfortunately that was not enough.

The three rounds went a bit the same way. Each time, it only took one bad service game to ruin the affair. In the first act, it was Arthur Fils who stuck first, at the worst time, at 4-4. Enough to leave a strange impression, as if this set had escaped him without the match having really started, as the debates lacked life, rhythm and exchanges. But Zverev was quick to finish straight away.

But then it was the German who completely redacted his service game quickly in the second set, allowing Arthur Fils to sign his first (and last) break of the match, haranguing the crowd to show him that he was still there . Behind, the French number 2 maintained his commitment until the end to get back to one round everywhere but, fundamentally, the fight had not changed its spirit that much. And in the deciding set, it was he who dropped his serve in the fourth game. Imperial on the first ball (88% of points won, 46 out of 52), Fils was constantly in difficulty on his second (only 35% against 57% to Zverev) and he paid dearly for it.

However, until the end, Fils tried to believe it and he didn’t miss much to restart the debates when Zverev served for the match at 5-3. One, then two and even three break balls, but a small lack of lucidity and precision prevented the Habs from following through on their intentions. Finally, the world number 3 took his revenge for the painful Hamburg final for him last July, where he lost the title, at home, against this same Son.

For the moment, this abundant blue Thursday is therefore tinged with gray and could turn completely black. Arthur Fils and Adrian Mannarino are already outside. There are still three French people left, including two Arthur, Cazaux, Rinderknech (plus Ugo Humbert facing the immense challenge Carlos Alcaraz…), to try to prolong the adventure in this Bercy which nevertheless promised to be flashy as rarely these recently in Masters 1000 for French tennis.