Frenchman Arthur Fils, winner of the Hamburg tournament, faced German, first seed and reigning champion Alexander Zverev, in the final, after the 11th game of the third set, and the chair umpire had to go between the two players .
The tension of the clash, which was resolved in three sets, after three hours and 33 minutes, in favor of the Frenchman, intensified in the final period, when Fils pressed his movements of defiance in the stands.
The Frenchman executed an underhand serve, known as a ‘spoon’, which went wide. However, Fils won the game and took a 6-5 lead in the third set.
From his bench, Zverev blamed his rival for his attitude. He accused her of disrespecting him. The Frenchman, instead of going to his bank, approached the German and they exchanged a few words.
Then the referee, the German Timo Janzen, had to get off his chair and force the Frenchman to return to his place. The public turned up their boos to Arthur Fils, who in a tie break won the match and took the most important title of his career.
In the end, at the net, Zverev fulfilled the ritual and, reluctantly and without looking at his face, shook hands with his opponent.
However, later, at the awards ceremony, both smoothed over rough edges, joked over cava and even melted into a hug that was wildly applauded by the audience.
“I did everything to win this match. I ramped up, I tried to ‘spoon’ serve because I couldn’t serve and the public looked bad, but I didn’t care, it happened,” explained Fils. , whose coaches are the Catalan Sergi Bruguera and his compatriot Sébastien Grosjean.
In a balanced match that gradually increased in intensity, Fils achieved the most important title of his career, the second in his history, by defeating the German Alexander Zverev, first seed and current champion, in the tournament in Hamburg.
The Frenchman’s first victory in three matches played against the German, ranked fourth in the world, required three sets, a tie break resolution and more than three and a half hours of fighting. The Frenchman won 6-3, 3-6 and 7-6 (1).
Fils, avenging last year’s defeat, added Hamburg to Lyon, in the 250 category, its only title so far. The one in Hamburg, where he showed a great level, was his third final. The one in Antwerp was also defeated in 2024.
Arthur Fils overcame the level of his opponent and the public, against him at the beginning and more when the Bondoufle tennis player showed a challenging and challenging attitude. But he held onto the court and held off Zverev’s attempted reaction, not taking advantage of his opportunities.
In fact, the fourth player in the world, a Roland Garros finalist, had 22 break chances and capitalized on just one, in the second set. Annoying numbers for Zverev, who faced the match weakened and kept his cool until the end. His right knee broken, visibly bandaged, and sick to his stomach, he kept his pulse to the last.
The reigning Olympic champion beat Fils last year at the same stage and in 2024, on grass in Halle. But not in Hamburg, where he intended to tie up a crown that his rival had taken from him.
Source: La Verdad
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