■After two hours and 23 minutes of intense play, both players gave it all. Both sets went into tiebreaks and Arthur Fils won the match. Both players are players that have the strongest shots on the tour, but their shots don't easily become winners. Both are blessed with strong legs and bodies, and incredibly high defense abilities. Moreover, Holger Rene is 21 years old and Fils is 20 years old, so they are both young and powerful. They ran energetically from far behind the baseline to the net and picked up their opponent's shots. Offense and defense play alternated rapidly and a single point took long to end.

■After losing the first set, Rune lost his concentration and broke his racket, but in the second set he regained his mental strength and played tenaciously. Fils noticed this change and switched from hitting hard to playing more carefully and staging rallies. "I had to change my strategy too. I tried to stay calm and to run more than him. I didn't mind running a lot. I just tried to stay focused.” If he had tried to overpower him by force, Rune would have gotten what he wanted. Fils' calmness was the primary factor that determined the outcome.

■However, it was unclear until the end which way the tiebreak would go. Rune came back from a 3-6 and even had a set point. Fils, who was caught up by a return ace from his opponent, said, "I thought it might go to the third set." However, he said, "I tried to think only about that moment," and maintained his concentration until the end.

■In the final, he will face fellow Frenchman Hugo Humbert. "Finals between French players are great. He's a good friend of mine, but when we step on the court tomorrow, we won't be friends anymore. We'll just have to do our best and see what happens," said Fils. This will be the first tour final between French players in 20 years.