Fils stuns Tiafoe again as French pair storm into Tokyo quarter-finals

French tennis had a Friday to remember at the Ariake Coliseum. Arthur Fils beat second seed Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-5 for the third time in their careers, while compatriot Kyrian Jacquet produced the biggest win of his career against world No. 19 Luciano Darderi. Both Frenchmen are into the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 event in Tokyo.

Fils keeps his grip on Tiafoe

Fils, ranked No. 9 in the world, needed about an hour and a half to get past the American, who is ranked one place above him at No. 8 and reached the US Open semi-finals last month. The 21-year-old did not face a break point in the opening set and took it 6-3 with the only break he needed. In the second set he held firm, even after losing a long rally at 5-5, and closed it out 7-5. Because of the weather, the match was played under the roof.

The win extends Fils' head-to-head lead over Tiafoe to 3-0. Their most recent meeting before Tokyo was the Cincinnati Masters 1000 final in late August, which the Frenchman also won. According to French outlet WeLoveTennis, Fils had to go through qualifying in Tokyo after registering late, which makes his run all the more striking.

Afterwards Fils was pleased with how he served under pressure and joked about his warm-up routine with coach Goran Ivanišević: "As soon as Goran warms me up in these conditions, I never lose," he said, as quoted by WeLoveTennis.

Jacquet's breakthrough against the top 20

For Jacquet, ranked No. 86, the 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Darderi was a career first in two ways: his first win over a top-20 player and his first quarter-final at ATP 500 level. The 25-year-old was dominant on serve, hitting 15 aces and winning 92 per cent of his first-serve points, and he finished with 42 winners to Darderi's seven, according to Univers Tennis. He also won 13 of his 15 points at the net.

It continues a strong week for the Frenchman, who opened his campaign with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Holger Rune in 54 minutes.

Wildcard Zheng becomes first Chinese champion in Beijing, beats Andreeva

Vacherot fights back, Munar cruises

Next up for Fils is Valentin Vacherot. The eighth seed from Monaco came back from a set and a break down to beat qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in their first career meeting. Tsitsipas served nine aces to Vacherot's seven, but the Monegasque converted two of five break points and saved six of the eight he faced. He had opened his tournament against Alexander Blockx. Fils and Vacherot have met once before, in the round of 16 at the Miami Masters in March, when the Frenchman won 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4.

Jacquet will face Spain's Jaume Munar, who barely broke a sweat on Friday. Munar beat Portuguese lucky loser Jaime Faria 6-1, 6-1 in 63 minutes, a day after knocking out Taylor Fritz in his opener.

Alcaraz back on court Saturday

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz returns on Saturday for his second-round match against Matteo Arnaldi. The Spaniard saved three set points in the first set on his way to a 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-1 win over Alex Michelsen on Thursday, extending his winning streak at ATP 500 level to 17 matches. He admitted afterwards that the slower conditions had frustrated him: "It was slower than indoor, it was tricky to adjust my game." Alcaraz leads Arnaldi 2-0 in their head-to-head, and both of those wins came on hard courts.