No one has had a more ridiculous run to an ATP title this season than Arthur Fils at the Japan Open.
Even prior to Tuesday’s roller-coaster final against fellow Frenchman Ugo Humbert, it had been an energy-sapping week for Fils. The 20-year-old upset No. 1 seed Taylor Fritz in three sets to kick off his campaign, survived a three-hour marathon against Ben Shelton in the quarters, and beat Holger Rune 7-6(8), 7-6(10) in the semis. Fils cramped during the match against Shelton and after the match against Rune.
Unsurprisingly, the world No. 24 also struggled physically in the title match. Running on fumes and trailing on the scoreboard, Fils was seemingly down and out in set two. After dropping the opener, he fell behind 0-40 while serving at 3-4. After somehow holding serve, Fils eventually found himself down championship point at 5-6 in the ensuing tiebreaker–only to come up with an incredible backhand pass.
“Honestly, I think it’s the best backhand I hit all week,” Fils assessed. “It was crazy.”
Almost as crazy is that Fils had enough left in the tank to get through one more set. After taking the ‘breaker 8-6, the 2024 Hamburg champion appeared to get a second wind and continued to deliver incredible shot-making in the third. One break of the Humbert serve in the eighth game was all he needed to complete an improbable 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-3 triumph in three hours and four minutes.
“Honestly, I don’t know (how I turned it around),” Fils admitted. “After 5-all in the first, I was feeling dead on the court. He was playing unbelievable shots. It was a very tight first set. I got a lot of break points and didn’t break. He’s such a great champion and it was very tough.
“I tried my best into the second set and then I saved one match point. Everything in tennis can turn in only one second, and it turned. So I’m very happy. I could have lost today.”
Humbert was trying to become the first player in ATP history to win his first seven finals. Instead, the left-hander is now 6-1 in championship matches.
