Zverev downs Fils to disappoint French crowd

Alexander Zverev soaked up the atmosphere from a pro-French crowd in the Bercy arena on Thursday, with the German third seed defeating home player Arthur Fils 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters.

Zverev, among five players qualified for the eight-man ATP Finals from November 10 in Turin, will have the chance to end the year-end hopes of Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday,

The Greek, who defeated Francisco Cerundolo 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 earlier in the day, needs to reach the Paris final to claim a place in the season wrapup event in northern Italy.

Zverev came through a final game lasting for nearly 10 minutes, with Fils missing on three break points but saving a match point.

Zverev finally advanced on his second winning chance, sending over a serve which his opponent could not control after just over two hours.

“It was difficult, I was down 15-4 but I’m happy I hung in there,” the winner said.  

“I forced some of his errors by fighting and putting that extra ball back. This was definitely a great match. I’m looking forward to more battles with him,” Zverev said as the pair played for the third time this season.

Zverev said he is partial to the ambience of the indoor Paris event – even if the crowd was heavily in favour of his French opponent. 

“The atmosphere is a lot louder than Roland Garros,” he said. “The crowd feels right on top of you indoors.

“We don’t get this a lot on Tour, But I love to play in Paris. It’s normal that the French want their players to win.”

Zverev ended with 28 winners and was helped by 235 unforced errors from Fils.

The German, holder of the Rome Masters title, won his 63rd match of 2024; he played the final here four years agoNovember.