Arthur Fils came to this year with the highest expectations, after winning his first career Masters 1000 title in Montreal. He will leave with dark disappointment.
The Frenchman failed to get past the first hurdle on Monday as he was toppled by Stefanos Tsitsipas, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-4.
The loss comes as a complete shock, given that Fils entered the match with a 5-0 record against Tsitsipas, and considering that the Greek is a perennial underachiever at the US Open. The Greek has never been past the third round in Flushing Meadows and even with Monday’s win his all-time record at the US Open stands at 8-8.
“I don’t really know. I don’t have the answer,” Fils said after dropping the final three sets.
“Once the energy went down at the end of the second, I never felt again a good energy. I have to talk with my team, but at my level, to do such a mistake is almost unprofessional.”
Fils said he was eager to try and make a comeback, but even when he moved ahead by a break in the fourth the lead was not long-lasting.
“I was trying to fight,” he said. “At one point I broke back early in the fourth, so I was trying to find a way, but yeah, I was not accurate enough on the serve. The ball was not going very well out of my racquet.
“It was tough. Even if I was fighting, it was tough.”
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