WATCH: Teen sensation Arthur Fils’ hilarious PREMATURE celebration gets interrupted by chair umpire’s overruling, enters his first ATP Final in Lyon 10 minutes later

Arthur Fils makes his first ATP final in Lyon just days before Roland Garros

WATCH: Teen sensation Arthur Fils’ hilarious PREMATURE celebration gets interrupted by chair umpire’s overruling, enters his first ATP Final in Lyon 10 minutes later

Arthur Fils (Image via L'Equipe)

Never celebrate too early they say. It can backfire big time. Something similar happened at the Lyon Open. Arthur Fils and Brandon Nakashima contested in the semi-final at the event. A hard-fought three-set match with multiple twists and turns. A few solid forehands, sneaky backhands and a pre-mature celebration were in for the taking. A perfect drainer for both just before the Roland Garros.

Arthur Fils took the first set 7-5. It was an intense set and the Frenchman took the much-needed lead. However, the American wasn’t to be left behind. He bounced back in another thriller of a set. 6-4 the scoreline and the match went into a mouth-watering tiebreaker. The show so far was amazing; however, the real drama was still to unfold.

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Third set and both players were not ready to get their foot off the gear. After an intense battle on the slow clay, match points arrived for Fils. Nakashima serving and a cross-court backhand from the American was called wide. As soon as Fils heard the call, he dropped to the surface and the celebration was on. It was his first ATP final and so the celebration was not a surprise. However, the chair umpire overruled the call, and a moment of standby occurred.

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Nakashima gained confidence out of the overrule. He forced a tiebreaker. To Fils’ credit, he stayed calm even after his victory was overruled. The match was gripped at 6-5 in the tiebreaker. That’s when Nakashima couldn’t hold on anymore and it was one wide.

This time Fils could celebrate this as this was out by a fair margin. He looked at his box and smiled as he felt he won this match twice. This is the first ATP final for the Frenchman in his country. He certainly would be proud of the week gone by.

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What’s next for Arthur Fils?

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Arthur Fils (Image via Next Gen ATP Finals)

A first ATP final is always special. To win matches in a row is not easy. Yes, he did have luck on his side with Micheal Ymer being defaulted and Felix Auger-Aliassime withdrawing from the quarter-final clash. However, that doesn’t take anything away from Fils, as whenever he stepped on the court, he looked mercurial and focused. This is a massive opportunity for the Frenchman.

A final in his home country against Francisco Cerundolo will be a nail-biting contest. He needs to stay in the present as the Argentine will be tricky. Cerundolo has a decent run in the clay and his stamina and speed are tough to match. It will be another thriller, for sure. Both men would try to get in as much confidence as possible before Roland Garros. A deep run in Paris for both may be a stretch too much, however, in sport, you can’t rule out anything.

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