Jeddah: Frenchmen Arthur Fils defeated Italian Flavio Cobolli 4-1, 4-2, 4-2 in 59 minutes on Wednesday to improve to 2-0 in Green Group play at the Next Gen ATP Finals, here at King Abdullah Sports City.
The Frenchman came out firing his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the Italian, out maneuvering Cobolli with his weight and depth of shot to improve to 2-0 in Green Group play. Fils undertook the ‘SIU’ celebration, associated with football star Cristiano Ronaldo, following his win.
“I played very nice today,” said Fils. “I served very good, and I was moving well on the court, so I am very happy about it. Tomorrow I have a good match against a great opponent. He already beat me once this year, so let’s see what I can do.”
Fils, who defeated Luca Nardi in five sets in his opening match, will meet Dominic Stricker in his final round-robin clash. Stricker and Cobolli both hold 1-1 records going into their final matches. Italian Cobolli faces countryman Nardi, who is 0-2, on Thursday.
Fils is aiming to become the sixth champion at the 21-and-under event, joining Top 10 stars Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas
Earlier this year the 19-year-old Fils lifted his maiden tour-level title in Lyon, while he reached the title match in Antwerp. He is playing at a career-high No. 36 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings this week.
–IANS