Arthur Fils beat Marin Cilic 7-6 (7-5) on Court Central to reach the second round at the Paris Rolex Masters in Bercy.
Fils became the youngest French player to score a main-draw win at the Paris Bercy Masters 1000 tournament since Richard Gasquet in 2006.
The first set went on serve until the 11th game when Ciiic earned the first break to take a 6-5 lead. Fils broke straight back in the 12th game to draw level to 6-6 sending the first set to the tie-break. Cilic earned an early mini-break in the tie-break. Fils won five consecutive points to take a 5-1 lead. Cilic pulled both mini-breaks back to draw level to 5-5. Fils earned his fourth mini-break to win the tie-break 7-5.
Fils earned two breaks of serve to race out to a 4-0 lead. Cilic pulled one break back in the sixth game to reduce the gap to 3-4. Fils served out the win on his first match point in the 10th game.
Fils is first in the Live Race to Jeddah. The Frenchman has earned 36 Tour-level wins this season.
“I am very focused, expecting a beautiful tournament at the Rolex Paris Masters. I remember arriving very tired last year. It was difficult, challenging for me, so this season I face with much more experience, feeling fresher. I am still very young, so I have plenty of learning ahead. Last week I played four matches in Basel, but they were not long matches, so everything is fine. I am ready to debut tomorrow. I could be in the top 20, in the top 50, in the top 15. I don’t look at the rankings. It does not change anything for me. I am delighted to be here. I don’t feel any pressure, there is nothing different from one week to another. I am not surprised at all by everything that is happening to Giovanni Mpetchi Perricard. We have trained together many times since we were 13 years old. What he did in Basel last week is wonderful, but I take it as something normal because he has a lot of potential. He is one of the best servers on the circuit, but he also moves well from the baseline. We always saw everything he could achieve on the court, so I wish him the best for the future”.
French wild card Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard came back from one set down to beat Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3. Mpetchi Perricard faced two break points in the third game of the third set and saved both of them.
Both players went on serve with no breaks of serve en route to the tie-break. Tiafoe earned the first mini-break to take a 2-0 lead. Mpetchi Perricard pulled back on serve to draw level to 3-3. After a trade of mini-breaks on the ninth and tenth points Tiafoe won the final two points to clinch the tie-break 7-5.
There were no break points in the second set, which was decided by another tie-break. Both players traded mini-breaks twice in the first four points. Mpetschi Perricard earned two more mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-4 forcing the match to the tie-break.
Mpetschi Perricard saved two break points in the third game to take a 2-1 lead in the third set. The young Frenchman broke serve in the sixth game and served out the win on his first match point in the ninth game.
Mpetchi Perricard continued great period of form following his second title of the year and the biggest trophy of his career at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, where he beat Ben Shelton in the final. Mpetschi Perricard has become the first French player to win the Basel title since legend Yannik Noah in 1987. He holds a 5-1 record against top 20 players in 2024. The young Frenchman will face either Karen Khachanov or Christopher O’Connell in the second round.
