French seed No. 28 Arthur Fils defeated American seed No. 22 Tommy Paul 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 7-6(6) in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open on Wednesday night to reach his first Masters 1000 semi-final, in what was the match of the tournament so far, and one of the most intense of the year.
Not a single service game was broken in two hours and 47 minutes. Paul held all 18 of his, winning 84 per cent of first-serve points, and still lost. Fils held every one of his six, saved all six break points he faced, and found a way through. The match was decided in the deciding tiebreak, where Paul led 6-2 – holding four match points – before Fils won six consecutive points to close it out.
“It was a dog fight and I never back down from a fight,” Fils said after the match. “Even if I lose, it’s okay, I just fought the best that I could.” Then, on the rivalry with Paul: “Even if Tommy is my friend, when we are stepping on the court, it’s either him or me. Well, I prefer when it’s me.”
Six points in a row to close the match
The match followed a consistent pattern across all three sets: both men serving at an elite level, trading holds without a sniff of a break, until tiebreaks settled each set. Paul took the opener by converting the first-set tiebreak cleanly, capitalising on a sequence of Fils forehand errors. The Frenchman levelled in the second, then the third went the same way – both immovable on serve, everything riding on a handful of points at the end.
At 2-6 in the final tiebreak, Fils had his back against the wall. He did not flinch. Solide and aggressive on the backhand to cancel the first match points, he then raised his level to win six of the last seven points and close out one of the tournament’s great escapes.
That’s the best result I’ve had in my life so far
“That’s the best result I’ve had in my life so far,” Fils said. “I will try to do my best in the semis, but now I’m pretty happy.” Fils held serve in all 49 service games this fortnight.
It was also the culmination of a remarkable return. Fils had been 0-4 in Masters 1000 quarter-finals before Wednesday. He has now won 11 of his last 13 matches since returning from the back injury that ended his 2025 season. He will face Czech seed No. 21 Jiri Lehecka in the semi-finals, a match that guarantees a first-time Masters finalist from this half of the draw.
Fils became the youngest French Masters 1000 semi-finalist since a 21-year-old Richard Gasquet in Paris in 2007.
Paul reached the quarter-finals after beating Argentinian seed No. 29 Tomás Martín Etcheverry 6-1, 6-3, Belgian Raphaël Collignon 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5) and Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Fils had beaten Darwin Blanch 6-2, 6-3, Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0, 6-1 and Monégasque seed No. 24 Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4 to reach this stage.