“My explosiveness and my physical condition (are my strengths)” – Fils
The French teen is the top seed at this week’s ATP Next Gen Finals and won his first match in the round-robin stage on Tuesday
Arthur Fils at the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters
Arthur Fils is still a teenager, but the young Frenchman has been making people sit up and take notice of his explosive game and charismatic personality on the tennis tour in 2023.
The 19-year-old has climbed to No 36 in the world rankings and is the top seed at this week’s ATP Next Gen Finals after his breakout season on the pro tour.
Speaking to the ATP Tour website, Fils spoke about how he likes to bring energy into his matches and how it helps him with the fans.
“My explosiveness and my physical condition [are my strengths],” he said. “The way I play helps me sometimes, because the crowd likes to support me a lot in physical battles. It’s something in my personality to bring the energy. It’s not important for my game, but important for myself.”
That energy was once again seen on court in Jeddah at the ATP Next Gen Finals when the Frenchman defeated Italy’s Luca Nardi 2-4, 4-3 (8-6), 4-2, 1-4, 4-2 in the first match of the round-robin stage.
My goal in tennis is to enjoy every second I can on the court. To smile in every match that I’m playing and to try my best to win some great tournaments and if I can to go high in the rankings.
Arthur Fils
Coming from a nation known to produce some of the most electric shot makers in recent history, including Yannik Noah, Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fils seems to follow in the footsteps on his illustrious countrymen.
“I watched a lot of Monfils and Tsonga, and of course I know Yannick Noah because he won Roland-Garros,” he said “(Style) is so important, because when you watch a tennis match you don’t want to be on the couch and just see one game, one game, one game. You want to see some highlights, and I think with Monfils, Tsonga and the backhand of Richard Gasquet, we saw a lot of highlights.”
“They (the older French players) help me a lot in the locker room, on the court and off the court,” Fils continued. “I don’t have any pressure (from the public), I just want to be as good as them or better than them, but no pressure. My goal in tennis is to enjoy every second I can on the court. To smile in every match that I’m playing and to try my best to win some great tournaments and if I can to go high in the rankings. I will try my best and I have some big goals.”
Fils will next his next step towards those big goals on Wednesday when he takes on another Italian Flavio Cobolli, who also won his first round-robin match on Tuesday, at the ATP Next Gen Finals.
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