May 31, 2024
Arthur Fils showed off his superior prowess on Wednesday by defeating Flavio Cobolli 4-1, 4-2, 4-2 in just 59 minutes at this year’s Next Gen ATP Finals on Wednesday in Jeddah.
The 19-year-old Frenchman, who celebrated his victory with the ‘SIU’ dance, popularized by football player Cristiano Ronaldo, was on fire in his first encounter with the Italian, outmuscled Cobolli with his weight and shot depth to advance to 2-0 in the Green Group.
“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 is ranked No. 36 in the ATP Rankings this week, is hoping to join Top 10 players Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Stefanos Tsitsipas as the sixth champions at the 21-and-under event. Fils won his first tour-level title in Lyon earlier this year, and he also advanced to the title match in Antwerp. This week, he is ranked No. 36 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, which is a career-high position.
After a dismal start to his Next Gen ATP Finals campaign, Dominic Stricker improved to 1-1 in the green group.
With a clean hitting display inside King Abdullah Sports City, the third-seeded Swiss wasted little time in bouncing back against Italian Luca Nardi on Wednesday in Jeddah, winning 4-1, 4-1, and 4-2.
Sticker, who is 21 years old, will next face Arthur Fils, the top seed, in an attempt to make it to the 21-and-under tournament semifinals for the second time in a row. The World No. 94 is in Saudi Arabia with the intention of capping an incredible year in which he made his first-ever US Open fourth-round appearance.
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