Arthur Fils Convinced No Player Would’ve Reached No.1 Ranking If ‘Big 4 Were Still Playing’

World No.40 Arthur Fils is bidding to win his fourth ATP title at the Qatar Open.

Arthur Fils Convinced No Player Would’ve Reached No.1 Ranking If ‘Big 4 Were Still Playing’

Arthur Fils, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray (Image via X/Jose Morgado, ATP Tour)

In Short
  • Arthur Fils reached the semifinals of the Qatar Open, facing Jakub Mensik next.
  • He believes no player would have reached No. 1 if the Big 4 were still active in tennis.
  • Fils recently started working with coach Goran Ivanisevic, aiming to enhance his game.

Arthur Fils has reached the semifinals of the Qatar Open. On Friday (February 20), the Frenchman will be up against Jakub Mensik.

Fils is chasing the third title of his career and his first since winning the 2024 Japan Open against Ugo Humbert. So far in his career, he has added two ATP 500 titles to his trophy cabinet, as apart from the Japan Open, he also won the 2024 Hamburg Open.

He made the semifinal in the Qatari capital after knocking out Jiri Lehecka. Fils, while commenting on the French tennis, said that if all the members of the Big 4 (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray) still played (Djokovic hasn’t retired), no other player would have reached the No.1 ranking.

Tennis is a very tough sport. Over the last twenty years, it has been dominated by Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray, and other extraordinary champions. For players like Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, or Gilles Simon—all greats—it was not easy to beat them at all. If those champions were still playing today, I don’t know if anyone else would be No. 1. France certainly has a good school and many excellent players. Perhaps they weren’t lucky enough to compete in a different era, but let’s try to change that.

Arthur Fils said (H/T: Ubitennis)

Current World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, however, became No.1 after winning the 2022 US Open when every member of the 4 were still competing. Fils will meet Alcaraz in the Qatar Open if both reach the final in Doha. The Spaniard will be up against defending champion Andrey Rublev in the semifinal.

Federer retired at the 2022 Laver Cup, and Nadal joined him on the retirement list in 2024 (played his last match at the Davis Cup). Murray hung up his racket at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Djokovic is the only member of the Big 4 still competing and recently played in the Australian Open final.

The Serb made a Grand Slam final for the first time since his defeat to Alcaraz in the 2024 Wimbledon. He did so by knocking out two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in five sets in the semifinals. In the final, it’s Alcaraz again who denied him his 25th Major title with a four-set win.

Arthur Fils on his partnership with Goran Ivanisevic

Arthur Fils recently confirmed that he has started working with Goran Ivanisevic, the Croatian coach, under whom Novak Djokovic won 12 of his 24 Grand Slam titles. Fils revealed how he convinced Ivanisevic to coach him.

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

Long question (laughs). He also knows my other coach, Ivan Cinkus, very well, so the contact was easy. Ivan told me Goran could help me, that he has a lot of experience and some free time. We talked and decided to give it a try. So far, it’s working well, even though we’ve only just started: it’s only been three or four days. He’s only seen two of my matches. During the match, he suggested some tactical adjustments; I put them into practice, and they worked. It’s a good start.

Arthur Fils said (H/T: Ubitennis)

Before joining Fils’ team, Ivanisevic was in the entourage of Stefanos Tsitsipas (mid-2025). The partnership did not last long, as the Greek ace fired Ivanisevic after the latter publicly criticized him and later, without naming anyone, said it was difficult to work with “dictators”.

Also, last year, Ivanisevic worked with two-time Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina, marking his first partnership with a WTA player. That partnership also did not last for long because of the Stefano Vukov saga.

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