Arthur Fils celebrates prematurely as Marijana Veljovic overrules, but reaches first-ever ATP final at the 2023 Lyon Open

Arthur Fils was close to having the biggest heartbreak of his young career at the 2023 Lyon Open, after thinking he won the match against Brandon Nakashima because he hadn't heard the chair umpire's overrule.

Arthur Fils faced Brandon Nakashima in the semifinal of the Lyon Open, eventually winning the almost three-hour battle 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(5).

At 5-4 in the third set, with Nakashima being on serve, one of the American's backhands looked like it went out, with the baseline judge calling it long. The Frenchman started celebrating and the home crowd went wild accordingly, but in all that chaos nobody heard chair umpire Marijana Veljovic overruling the line judge, saying the ball clipped the line.

After a short argument, Fils had to accept the decision, and the point eventually went to Nakashima, who soon tied it at 5-all.

In the end, the 18-year-old Frenchman had another opportunity around ten minutes later in the tiebreak. This time, Nakashima's backhand went way out of the court and Fils finally won the match.

At the 2023 Lyon Open, Fils qualified for the first ATP final of his career and became one of the four Frenchmen who managed to do so before turning 19 years old. Before him, only Fabrice Santoro (Toulouse 1990), Richard Gasquet (Metz 2004, Hamburg 2005), and Gael Monfils (Sopot 2005) managed to do so.

"It's one of the best moments of my young career, qualifying for my first final on the ATP circuit with the public as crazy as that is almost unheard of for me. But I'm already focused on the final", Fils said during the post-match press conference.

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Arthur Fils to face Francisco Cerundolo in the final of the 2023 Lyon Open

Arthur Fils

Arthur Fils will battle it out with Francisco Cerundolo in the final in Lyon, with the match being their first head-to-head duel ever.

Before beating Nakashima, Fils defeated Zhizhen Zhang, 6-3, 6-2, Mikael Ymer (disqualification), and Felis Auger-Aliassime (withdrew).

Cerundolo's way to the final consisted of eliminating Juan Pablo Varillas (retired), Jack Draper, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, and Cameron Norrie, 6-3, 6-0.

This will be the 24-year-old Argentine's third attempt at winning an ATP title. He previously lost to Diego Schwartzman in Buenos Aires in 2021 and won against Sebastian Baez in Bastad in 2022.

"He is a very good opponent that I have never played. I've seen him plenty of times on TV. It will not be easy and I will have to know how to manage it well and if I succeed, I may have a chance of winning," Arthur Fils stated in a press conference.

The final will be played on Sunday, May 27, just a day before the 2023 French Open begins.