The temperature was scorching high in Hamburg! On Sunday, Arthur Fils, avenged his 2023 SF loss against Alexander Zverev with a victory in the finals. He defeated the defending champion in a highly competitive clash in Hamburg. The three-hour and thirty-one-minute match had enough drama for the soap enthusiasts. What does Arthur Fils have to say about that incident?

The drama started when the score was 5-5 in the third set and Fils was down by 30-40. He audaciously attempted an underarm serve which was initially called in, but with the German’s protest, the umpire checked it and called it out. The crowd went against the Frenchman. Arthur Fils was even spotted heading towards Zverev’s bench to have a chat. Ultimately, the umpire stepped in to calm things down and push Fils back to his side. However, that wasn’t the end, it was also followed by a cold handshake after the match!

In the post-match press conference, when asked about the underarm serve incident, he replied, “I think he (Zverev) was a little bit upset and that’s okay. He was upset about the way I played one point.” Fils then told the journalists that after playing a match of almost close to three and a half hours he felt a bit of a cramp and was unable to serve. So he did the underarm serve. “I think he was pissed about it. I don’t really understand why he was pissed actually,” said the Frenchman. Nobody expected him to beat the German on his home soil, but he successfully did the unthinkable!

During the post-match on-court interview, Fils spoke about the incident. He said, “I’m really happy about how I played. I did everything for winning this match. I got cramps, when I was serving I was cramping. I was trying underarm serves because I cannot serve. The crowd took it badly but I don’t care, I’m winning and that’s it.“

This is his first ATP 500 title and he’s now 4-6 against the Top 10 opponents. Arthur Fils is now just the third champion here in Hamburg who is younger than 21 in this century. And, this for sure is a huge achievement to overshadow all the controversies in this thrilling encounter against Zverev.

“Enjoy the moment” – Alexander Zverev calming things down with a word of praise for the young, Arthur Fils

The crowd was not happy with Fils after the match. They were unhappy with Fils winning in the deciding set. However, things calmed down when both praised each other for their valiant efforts in this thrilling faceoff. Fils said, “Sascha [Zverev] is such a great champion. He’s such a great champion playing unbelievable tennis. I knew from the start that it wasn’t going to be easy.” He said he knew this match was always going to be a “dogfight” after the roofs were closed following the second set.

However, he’s happy to have ended the match on a winning note. Adding more to his happiness were the words of Alexander Zverev while speaking on his opponent. Zverev said, “Arthur and your team, well done. Great week and you deserve your title. Enjoy the moment.” Interestingly, the German had recently defeated Fils in the QF of the Halle Open, and now with this victory, the youngster has made it 1-2 in the H2H. After this turn of events in Hamburg, fans will be more excited to see this rivalry for the rest of the season!