France’s feisty Fils wins over Centre Court but Berrettini has too much savvy

The brief

It has been 43 years and four weeks since a French man won a grand slam. The odds that it’s about to be 43 years and five just got a whole lot shorter. Their last contender, Arthur Rinderknech, plays Novak Djokovic in the third round on Friday, but their great hope heading into the championships, Arthur Fils, lost to Matteo Berrettini on Centre Court, 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, in a performance that included a couple of flare-ups with the umpire and his own coaches, a lot of hot exclamations, exultations and exhalations – and an array of absolutely staggering shots. They hadn’t seen Fils, who is 22, on Centre Court…