Healthy, hungry Fils relishing return to form

By Richard Osborn

22-year-old Frenchman: ‘I found out I was pretty strong mentally’

Arthur Fils stopped checking his social media feeds altogether.

The Frenchman, 22, had grown weary of the unwarranted backlash that had come in the wake of his injuries, setbacks that last year kept the wildly talented all-courter away from his livelihood for the better part of eight months. As if his back pain, his hip woes, weren’t already unsettling enough.

Arthur Fils wearing a white Lacoste t-shirt and a gold cross necklace, holding his right hand to his ear with a slight smile, set against a blue background with white diagonal lines.

“When you’re injured, you get a lot of, I want to say s—-, but what’s another word?” he asked.

Criticism?

“Criticism.”

Ironically, it was on home turf in Paris, out in the Bois de Boulogne at Stade Roland Garros, that he suffered a lower-back stress fracture during a grueling five-set battle with Spaniard Jaume Munar in 2025. For someone who grew up dreaming of raising Grand Slam hardware, of rising to No. 1 in the world, who in 2023 became the youngest Frenchman to win an ATP Tour title (Lyon) since Gael Monfils in 2005, the time away from the sport was, at times, agonizing.

Arthur Fils lunges on a blue tennis court, focused on hitting a tennis ball with his racket. He is wearing a light blue shirt, gray shorts, white wristbands, and bright pink shoes.

“I found out that I was pretty strong mentally,” he said. “During that eight months, I didn’t really ask myself if I was going to be back. I was sure I was going to be back at my level, at a higher level. It was just going to take some time.”

Having returned to the court in February, the owner of four career tour-level singles titles is hoping to match (and surpass) his career-high No. 14 in the PIF ATP Rankings. But, for now anyway, he’s just happy to be progressing.

“I just have to stay very positive,” said Fils. “If I’m very positive in the mind, and I really trust the process, then on court it’s going to be easier. Just stay positive and never question the journey.”

Arthur Fils raises his fist in celebration on a tennis court, holding a racket in his other hand and wearing a light blue shirt and wristbands.

That edict has served him well in 2026. Since adding 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic to his team (he’s also coached by Ivan Cinkus), Fils has reached the quarterfinals or better in eight of 13 events, all but one coming at the 500 or 1000 level, the 2026 Cincinnati Open included. Up against the giant slayer Thaigo Agustin Tirante in the Cincy quarterfinals (the No. 50-ranked Argentine has taken out Novak Djokovic and Jakub Mensik this week), Fils is bidding to join Guy Forget (1991) as the only Frenchmen to reach three ATP Masters 1000 semifinals in a singles season.

And wouldn’t that be something to tweet about.