Arthur Fils Makes Ambitious Claim After Reaching Maiden Masters 1000 Semifinals

Arthur Fils will face Jiri Lehecka for a place in the final of the Miami Open.

Arthur Fils Makes Ambitious Claim After Reaching Maiden Masters 1000 Semifinals

Arthur Fils (Image via X/Tiempo De Tenis)

In Short
  • Arthur Fils reached the semifinals of the Miami Open after recovering from a back injury that sidelined him for several months.
  • He defeated Tommy Paul in a tense quarter-final match, coming back from a set down and winning a crucial third-set tiebreak.
  • Fils aims to continue winning matches this season, focusing on his performance rather than rankings or milestones.

Eight months ago, Arthur Fils wouldn’t have believed that he would be in the Miami Open semi-finals, as he had suffered a stress fracture in his lower back while playing against Jaume Munar in the second round of the French Open. The then World No.14 was heartbroken after injury but he’s currently one of the happiest men on tour.

He was playing excellent tennis before the injury and was looking like one of the youngsters hungry enough to push Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on tour. The Frenchman was forced to shut his season down after the injury setback and though he returned to tour in August, he struggled to reach his best fitness level.

In February, Fils returned to the men’s circuit, aiming to find his way back to his best and not in any way seeking to climb the ATP rankings. Surprisingly, he reached the final of the Qatar Open, five months after being away. Though he lost the title to Carlos Alcaraz, his competitiveness couldn’t go without being praised by so many former players.

At the Indian Wells Open, he reached the quarter-finals before losing to Alexander Zverev in straight sets. However, in Miami, he is finding unbounded joy on the court, having defeated Darwin Blanch and Stefanos Tsitsipas before getting the better of Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6(4)-7, 6-4 in the round of 16.

The 21-year-old battled hard against Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals and prevailed 6(3)-7, 7-6(4), 7-6(6) after two hours and 47 minutes on Stadium Court. After the win, he told L’Equipe that his main focus is to keep coming out victorious in every match he participates in this season and nothing more:

Honestly, being in the semifinals doesn’t mean much. The most important thing is winning matches, whether it’s a final or a first round. I’m focused on winning the next match against Jiri, a very good player. But if we go back six or eight months, when I was injured with a back injury, if someone had told me I was going to play a semifinal in Miami, I would have signed up immediately. But that’s not the most important thing.

Fils has the opportunity to reach his first ATP Masters final on tour should he beat Jiri Lehecka in their semi-final clash on Friday (March 27). He holds a 2-1 lead in their head-to-head record on tour ahead of the clash. Lehecka, who has been in inconsistent form this season, will hope to upset Fils at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami.

Arthur Fils explains how he defeated Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open

Arthur Fils lost the first set against Tommy Paul at the Miami Open quarter-finals clash. In the second set, he battled hard to win the set after a tiebreak. The third set was a battle between Fils and Paul as they couldn’t break each other on the court, which led to a tiebreak. Eight points into the tiebreak, Paul led 6-2 and needed just one point to win the match.

Arthur Fils
Arthur Fils (Image via X/Jose Morgado)

But Fils showed resilience, winning six consecutive points to come out victorious in a nervy tie. During his aforementioned interview, he was asked what was on his mind when he was down 2-6 in the third-set tiebreak. The 21-year-old admitted that he just tried doing everything he knew despite the physical strain it caused him:

Backhand sliding, everything, just trying to put the ball inside and wait. The backhand slide. Usually I never slide on the backhand side. Now I’m sliding very well. It was tough physically, I have to recover now. The legs are a bit hurting, they feel a bit tight. When you win you usually don’t feel it too much. If I had lost tonight, for sure tomorrow I couldn’t walk.

Fils’ last title on tour came at the Tokyo Open in 2024, when he defeated Ugo Humbert in the final. He didn’t reach a tournament final last year as he only played for six months. This year, he will aim to win a tour-level title and perhaps prove himself a big player by reaching the latter stages of a Grand Slam tournament.

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