Zhang defeats Cobolli to reach last eight

Can Arthur Fils turn consistency into the biggest title of his career at the Hamburg Open?

The #NextGenATP Frenchman on Thursday booked his spot in the quarter-finals at the clay-court ATP 500 with a 7-6(3), 6-2 triumph against 2023 finalist Laslo Djere. Fils, who himself reached the semi-finals in Hamburg a year ago, has now reached six tour-level quarter-finals this season.

“Last year he made the final here, so I knew from the start it was going to be a tough match,” said Fils in his post-match interview. “Especially the first set, I think we played a great intensity, a lot of rallies. I was feeling OK, but when I was looking at him, he was looking super fresh. At the end I managed to play very good in important moments and I’m very happy about this win.”

Fils was in trouble at 4-4, 15/40 in the opening set of his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Djere. The 20-year-old dug deep to hold serve from there, however, and went on to dominate the first-set tie-break before racing through the second set.

The current leader in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Fils saved six of seven break points he faced against Djere, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to a one-hour, 46-minute win in hot and humid conditions in Hamburg. Fils is just the fifth man to reach multiple Hamburg quarter-finals before the age of 21, after Mats Wilander, Kent Carlsson, Novak Djokovic and Andrei Medvedev.

“When I’m practising super hard like I’m doing, of course I am able to show a great level and great fitness for a few hours,” reflected Fils, when asked about the physical side of his game. “If a guy wants to beat me, it has to be tough. I am not going to let the match go.”

Awaiting Fils in the last eight will be second seed Holger Rune, who enjoyed a straight-sets win of his own against qualifier Marco Trungelliti.

Rune converted three of six break points he earned en route to a 6-4, 6-3 triumph against qualifier Marco Trungelliti. With his 80-minute triumph, the second seed became the first Danish man to reach the Hamburg quarter-finals in the Open Era.

The 21-year-old Rune was particularly happy to back up his opening win against Fabian Marozsan in Germany, where he is competing for the first time since his Wimbledon run ended with straight-sets fourth-round defeat to Novak Djokovic.

“It’s been very intense since Wimbledon. I only had one day off, actually,” said Rune in his on-court interview. I was like, ‘I don’t want to rest, I want to go straight back to practice’, because I was very disappointed. I went straight back to work on the things that needed to be done, and now I have the chance to train those things in matches.”

In the top half of the draw, Zhang Zhizhen set a potential quarter-final clash with top seed and defending champion Alexander Zverev by beating Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 7-6(5).