ATP Tour

Fils downs Tiafoe in thrilling R2 battle between Top-10 stars in Tokyo

Arthur Fils may not have expected to face a fellow Top-10 star in the second round of his title bid at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, but the Frenchman passed that test in style on Friday evening.

The 22-year-old produced a typically explosive display to defeat fellow showman and World No. 8 Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-5 and reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 500 event. Despite competing as the No. 9 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fils was forced to start his campaign in qualifying after he missed the entry deadline in Tokyo, where he lifted the trophy in 2024.

"It was definitely a very good match," Fils said in his on-court interview. "My level was very good from the start until the end. I'm very happy with the way I handles my serve under pressure, because he's a great returner. I had to really be focused, and I'm really happy I did it, so it's positive."

Fils and Tiafoe last met in the Cincinnati final in August, when the Frenchman prevailed in three sets to claim his first ATP Masters 1000 title. Last week, Fils made his debut inside the world’s Top 10, but he has shown no signs of being fazed by the unorthodox challenge of coming through qualifying this week in the Japanese capital.

Both Fils and Tiafoe produced plenty of high-octane and entertaining exchanges throughout their contest. Tiafoe landed a stunning lob that clipped the baseline by millimetres in the first set, and had two break points at 4-3 in the second set. Yet Fils dug deep into his arsenal, winning plenty of thrilling all-court points en route to a 89-minute victory.

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By improving to 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Tiafoe, Fils set a quarter-final clash with eighth seed Valentin Vacherot, who came within two points of defeat against Stefanos Tsitsipas before rallying for a 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 victory. Tsitsipas led by a set and a break, but Vacherot — the Monegasque breakout star of last year’s Asian hard-court swing — regrouped to shift the momentum and close out a clutch victory.

Vacherot last year became the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 champion in series history (since 1990) when he came through qualifying in Shanghai before winning the title as the World No. 204. Now, by reaching his seventh ATP Tour quarter-final in Tokyo, the 27-year-old has risen one spot to No. 17 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

In other action at the ATP 500 event in Tokyo on Friday, Kyrian Jacquet continued his strong form by upsetting World No. 19 Luciano Darderi 6-3, 7-6(5) for the biggest win of his career. The 25-year-old Frenchman, who is competing at a career-high No. 86, has reached his second straight tour-level quarter-final following his run to the last four in Hangzhou last week. Jacquet will next meet Spain’s Jaume Munar, who earlier eased past Jaime Faria 6-1, 6-1.