Arthur Fils earned his highest-ranked win of the season Thursday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, where a heavy-hitting performance lifted the Frenchman past Alex de Minaur, the No. 11 player in the PIF ATP Rankings.
The 19-year-old, who holds the top spot in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, redirected the ball at ease with ferocious forehands to dispatch the fourth seed 7-5, 6-2 after one hour, 34 minutes.
Fils had vocal support from French fans on Pista Andres Gimeno, where despite failing to close the match on serve, he quickly rebounded and broke De Minaur to book a spot in his ninth tour-level quarter-final and second above ATP 250 level.
#TheNextGenATP star is up to No. 32 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, two spots clear of his career-high that he hit in January after a semi-final appearance in Auckland. The youngest player of the last eight in Barcelona, Fils will next meet Dusan Lajovic, who beat the Frenchman in Buenos Aires to level their Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 1-1.
Fils won his maiden ATP Tour crown 11 months ago on home soil in Lyon and was a finalist at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF. The teen is aiming for a return trip to the 20-and-under event held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 18-22 December.
De Minaur, 25, defeated 12-time Barcelona champion Rafael Nadal on Wednesday and was aiming for his third consecutive quarter-final at the ATP 500.
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