It happens every year in tennis.
A young, bright-eyed player with fistfuls of skill and promise wins a match or two at a Grand Slam, and all of a sudden, the next big thing has arrived.
And here we are once more, just a few days into the year’s final Grand Slam, with no shortage of chatter about Arthur Fils, the gallant, 19-year-old Frenchman, who a year ago was battling to get within sniffing distance of the top 300.
Now he is ranked 48th in the world and won his first match at a Grand Slam — on his third try — on Tuesday.
On a field court in front of bleachers teeming with in-the-know spectators desperate for a glimpse of the future, Fils outlasted Tallon Griekspoor, the 24th seed, in five sets.
Persons:
Billie Jean King, Donald Young, Ryan Harrison, Arthur Fils, Frenchman, Fils, Tallon Griekspoor
Organizations:
Billie Jean King National Tennis Center