ATP Auckland: Fils ends Gasquet's top 100 series in the generational duel
In the French generational duel, the No. 6 seeded teenager Arthur Fils defeated the 37-year-old defending champion Richard Gasquet in the opening round of the ATP 250 tournament in Auckland, who will be outside the top 100 for the first time in more than 18 years.
by Dietmar Kaspar
last edit:
Jan 09, 2024, 11:47 am
In the all-French first round duel between 19-year-old Arthur Fils and veteran Richard Gasquet, one break in both rounds was enough for the teenager to retain the upper hand 6:3, 6:4 after 69 minutes without losing his own serve.
While the victory has no impact on the live ranking for the finalist of the NextGen ATP Finals with the same position as 36th, the loser is hit even harder. Gasquet won the title in the New Zealand capital last year and thus had 250 points in the world rankings to defend. For these purposes he received a wildcard for the main field from the organizer. After his early exit, the veteran slipped 55 places down in the current overview to 131st place and will therefore no longer be among the 100 best players in the world next Monday for the first time since 2005.
Fils faces the Portuguese Nuno Borges in the second round, who was able to keep the American youngster Alex Michelsen at bay 0:6, 7:6 (6), 6:3.
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