Arthur Fils Lauds Fruitful Partnership with Goran Ivanisevic Following Madrid Open Exit

Arthur Fils has praised his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, for his immediate impact on his career after failing to reach the Madrid Open final. The Frenchman reached his fourth semi-final of the season at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid but lost to World No.1 Jannik Sinner in straight sets.

Fils parted ways with his former coaches, Laurent Raymond and Ivan Cinkus, last year. However, Cinkus returned to his coaching team last year during his spell on the sidelines, dealing with a back problem. He returned to the court in February and added Ivanisevic to his team.

There was an instant success as Fils reached his first final in almost a year at the Doha Open. At the Sunshine Double, he reached the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells and the semi-finals of the Miami Open. After skipping the Monte Carlo Masters, the World No.25 claimed his first title of the season after winning the Barcelona Open.

Things got better for Ivanisevic and Fils on tour as their partnership led to a good run at the Madrid Open. For the first time in Fils’ career, he got to the semi-finals of a clay WTA 1000 tournament. However, he lost to Sinner 2-6, 4-6 after an hour and 27 minutes at the Caja Magica in the Spanish capital.

Following his success in Madrid, Fils has jumped eight spots to World No 17 in the ATP Lobe rankings, just three spots away from reaching his career-high ranking of World No.14, which is incredible for a player who was injured for more than six months. He took his time to praise Ivanisevic during his press conference, stressing that the Croatian coach has effected a good change in his game:

We are doing a great job, I think, with Goran. He’s helping me a lot with his experience. I also did a great job with Ivan over the last two years, and they are close friends, so it’s easy to work with both of them. Since Goran arrived, I have another way to see things. It’s pretty good. In Barcelona and now in Madrid, we did a hell of a job. I’m very happy with that and I hope we keep going like this.

Ivanisevic is one of the most experienced coaches on tour. He’s a former Wimbledon champion and helped Novak Djokovic to win 12 Grand Slams in six years. However, since October 2024, he has not had any long-term coaching job. He hopes to build a lasting partnership with Fils on tour.

Arthur Fils admits that lack of confidence played a part in his loss against Jannik Sinner

Arthur Fils was not at his best against Jannik Sinner on Friday (May 1). For a player who was on a nine-match winning streak, he was expected to perform with better momentum on the court. His serve let him down in the semi-final clash. He failed to convincingly return Sinner’s serve and made just 49 percent of his first serve.

He was broken four times during the match and often talked to himself in anger after any error. The 21-year-old was far from his best, and that gave Sinner the chance to breeze past him. He revealed during the aforementioned press conference that he lacked the confidence to challenge Sinner in the tie:

My serve. The numbers were pretty bad. But, joke aside, he’s a great champion. He didn’t lose one match since Indian Wells, maybe, so he’s playing with a lot of confidence. He hits the ball very clean from both sides and he was serving very well. The first set was very good for him, a bit tough for me.

This isn’t the first time that Fils has completely collapsed on the court. He did that against Jiri Lehecka in the semi-finals of the Miami Open, a match he was the favorite to win. He sprayed 21 unforced errors and looked physically drained. The same fatigue was noticeable against Sinner at the Caja Magica.

Also Read: Marta Kostyuk Goes Viral With a Backflip Celebration in Madrid

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