Arthur Fils of France beat his compatriot Richard Gasquet 7-5 7-5 in the first round of the Montpellier Open on Monday. For the 18-year-old Fils, ranked 164th in the world, it was surely the most memorable victory of his fledgling career. The match lasted for a little more than two hours, with Fils showing great resolve to emerge victorious in the end. But what were the keys to his win?
#1 Fils holds his nerve in the opener
Gasquet started the match very well, breaking his opponent in the third game of the first set. His famous backhand, in particular, was firing, with one wonderful passing shot off that wing leaving Fils looking stunned. But to the younger man’s credit, he held his nerve and waited for the storm to pass.
When his chance came, he took it, breaking back to draw level. He was then able to break the veteran Gasquet at the death. Crucially, he was able to get on the front foot and dictate with his powerful groundstrokes. Gasquet was looking to fight fire with fire, but he has lost half-a-step over the last few seasons and was too often off-balance and out of position.
#2 Fils’ forehand does the damage
As the match continued, Gasque really struggled to live with Fils’ power, particularly off the forehand side. The teenager did a lot of damage with his inside-out forehand with Gasquet unable to defend out of his backhand corner effectively. Gasquet looked to counter that by rushing the net, but with mixed results.
The 36-year-old has excellent hands and put away a few sharp volleyed winners, but Fils also struck some fine passing shots. Gasquet did draw, in fact, draw first blood in the second set, but was not able to maintain his advantage with Fils breaking back quickly. Fils then struck again in the 12th game, breaking Gasquet’s serve to seal the win.
All in all, it was a very impressive performance for Fils who looks to have a bright future. There are naturally areas of his game he will need to improve on going forward, but his powerful serve (he fired eight aces past Gasquet) and forehand should stand him in good stead. His second delivery was a problem, as he won just 40% of the points behind it. But Gasquet did even worse on that score, which was all-but decisive.
Main photo credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
