December 19, 2024
Arthur Fils bounced back quickly from his difficult start at the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF with an impressive victory against Jakub Mensik on Thursday in Jeddah.
The top-seeded Frenchman overcame Mensik 4-2, 4-3(4), 4-2 with a gutsy display at the 20-and-under event. A finalist at King Abdullah Sports City a year ago, Fils crucially won four out of five deciding deuce points to earn a 77-minute triumph and bounce back quickly from his five-set defeat to Joao Fonseca on Wednesday.
“Yesterday was a bit tough,” acknowledged Fils in his on-court interview. “To come back here [today] and play was tough, but I’m really happy with the way I dealt with the match today. It was against a really good opponent. He had an unbelievable year and I wish him all the best for the next year, because he’s a nice guy. I’m very happy about the performance today, and thank you very much to the crowd which was amazing.”
Fils blunted Mensik’s big serve with some sharp returning in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. The Frenchman converted three of seven break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to improve to 10-2 against Top 50 opponents since September.
Competing in Jeddah at a career-high No. 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fils is now 38-27 for the 2024 season. The 20-year-old, who lifted ATP 500 crowns in Hamburg and Tokyo this year, will take on Learner Tien in his final group match on Friday, when Mensik will chase his first win of the week against Fonseca.
“It’s not often I’m the oldest one [at a tournament] so it’s a bit weird,” said Fils, who is the third-highest ranked competitor in Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF history (after No. 15 Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2018 and No. 18 Alex de Minaur in 2019). “I’m used to being the youngest one. Today it’s a bit opposite, but I like to be in this place and it’s good to play in these conditions. It will help me for [next year].”
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