Arthur Fils booked his place in the semifinals of the Miami Open in extraordinary fashion.
Having come back from a set down in the quarterfinal bout, Fils defeated Tommy Paul in three sets, clinching the third-set tiebreak against all odds.
The Frenchman found himself 6-2 down in the decisive shootout, but fought back to seal the victory and advance to the final four of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time in his career.
Is Arthur Fils a genuine threat to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner?
His next opponent comes in the form of Jiri Lehecka, whom he beat in the Qatar Open quarterfinals earlier this year.
Fils has enjoyed an impressive run at this season’s edition of the Miami Open and has now made history at the competition.
Arthur Fils reaches Miami semifinals without losing his serve
Incredibly, Fils has managed to reach the semifinals of the Miami Open without dropping a game on his serve.
Across four matches, the 21-year-old has faced 11 break points, but he has saved all of them.
The last player to advance to the semifinals of an ATP Masters 1000 event without losing their serve was Novak Djokovic, who did so at the Shanghai Masters in 2018.
Goran Ivanisevic, Fils’ current coach, was the first since the inception of the Masters format to achieve the feat, with the Croat making the 1992 Stockholm Masters semifinal serving flawlessly.
Of every player to ever accomplish this, Fils ranks joint second in service games played en route to the final four stage, tied with Pete Sampras at the 1995 Canadian Open, and trailing only John Isner’s sum of 56 at the 2017 Cincinnati Open.
Arthur Fils’ head-to-head record versus Jiri Lehecka
Though Fils won the last encounter with his next opponent, Lehecka, he has fallen to the Czech star on the ATP Tour before.
At the Canadian Open last season, Lehecka came back from a set down to defeat Fils and advance to the fourth round.
Their first meeting professionally came in a Davis Cup tie between France and the Czech Republic back in 2024.
That clash was played on an indoor hard court, and Fils came out on top in three sets after a competitive battle.
Now, the two will have their biggest matchup yet, with a place in the Miami Open final up for grabs.
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