“One of my best weeks since the start of the season” – Fils beaten, but far from defeated

Arthur Fils‘ heavy elimination in Dubai seems a long time ago. However, that was a little less than two weeks ago. At the time, the French player went missing against Nuno Borges in the first round and fell to a sharp loss (6-2, 6-1). Two weeks later, Fils has reached his first Masters 1000 quarter-final.

His adventure in Indian Wells came to an end against Daniil Medvedev in a match with difficult, windy conditions and unbearable suspense. Fils lost in the decisive tie-break of the third set after saving two match points (6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7)), missing his chance to play in his first Masters 1000 semi-final.

Despite the obvious disappointment at losing one of the biggest matches of his career so far, which led to the Frenchman throwing his racquet in rage after the handshake, Fils appeared rather calm in the press conference, proud of his week.

“The end of the match doesn’t change anything. I know I had a good tournament. But I can do much better, especially in this match where I had chances in difficult conditions,” he acknowledged in comments reported by L’Équipe.

“There were positives in this match, negative ones too and that will serve me well. We always learn more from defeats, that’s what they say. There are a lot of things to learn.”

Fils adapted his tactics because of the wind and he came close to winning, having led 4-2 in the final set.

“The wind bothered us a lot from the beginning, both of us,” he continued.

“After that, for sure, when you play from the back in rhythm against him, he’s one of the best players in the world, if not the best, so I tried to vary a bit, because otherwise I could have taken two sets quite quickly.

“I had to change, and I managed to do it quite a bit; I was in front at the third, so it showed that I was on the right track.”

fils turns attention to miami

In Indian Wells, Fils will take positives from three impressive wins against Gabriel Diallo, Marcos Giron and, in particular, Lorenzo Musetti in the second round, after saving a match point against the Italian. It gives Fils enough momentum build for the tournaments to come, starting with the Miami Masters, where he was eliminated in the first round last year.

“I had three wins, and also a loss unfortunately, but it’s definitely a good week,” Fils concluded.

“I can do better, but it’s one of my best weeks since the beginning of the season and we have to keep the positive. Now, we have to keep going. Give me a day and next week we’ll train hard again and maybe it’ll be even better there.”

Fils is determined and this week in Indian Wells reminded us that he can still be counted on in the biggest events.

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