Arthur Fils is into his maiden ATP 500 semi-final after thrashing Casper Ruud 6-0 6-4.
It was a flawless performance from the Frenchman who defeated a top ten player for the first time in his career.
Fils was constructive and destructive on his forehand, hitting 25 of his 35 winners off that side.
Meanwhile there was nothing Ruud could do as he only managed to hit six winners and leaves the post-Wimbledon clay season empty handed.
However it was a day to rejoice for Fils who soaked in the moment as he reached his first ATP 500 semi-final of his career, “I’m really happy about it. Of course, it was a tough match,” Fils was quoted by the ATP website as saying.
“I had good tactics with my coach before the match. We talked before the match, that I have to believe I can win. Of course, I’m coming on court, I want to win, so I tried to play my game and I played my best today, so I’m happy about it.
“I knew that he has a really good forehand, and when he uses his forehand during the point, it’s tough. He makes you run a lot. My goal was to play a lot of forehands and play a lot on his backhand, and I did it really well today.”
Fils is now 4-0 in ATP Quarter-Finals and will now look to make his second final of the season when he takes on Alexander Zverev in Saturday’s semi-finals.
Zverev defeated another Frenchman in the form of Luca Van Assche to reach the last four.
The other semi-final will see Laslo Djere take on Zhizhen Zhang after Djere knocked out defending champion Lorenzo Musetti while Zhang defeated Daniel Altmaier.
