MADRID, April 30 (Reuters) – Coming on the heels of his Barcelona triumph earlier this month, Arthur Fils’ run to the Madrid Open semi-finals shows he has fully recovered from a long-term back problem and is ready to make a real statement at the French Open on home soil.
A stress fracture in his lower back suffered at Roland Garros last year all but wiped out the remainder of Fils’ season, with his brief return in Toronto in August proving to be premature and forcing another long period of rehabilitation.
Since returning in February, Fils has made deep runs at Doha, Indian Wells and Miami before going all the way in Barcelona, where he downed Andrey Rublev in the final to win his first title since his comeback.
Fils beat Jiri Lehecka 6-3 6-4 in the Madrid quarters on Wednesday to further heighten expectations before the French Open begins on May 24, but the 21-year-old is shutting out all the noise.
“I don’t even look. Because if you start to, your head goes everywhere,” Fils told reporters.
“I try to be focused. I still have to play here in Madrid, and I have to play Rome, then more preparation, and the French Open. So I have a lot of time.
“When you’re injured you get a lot of … criticism, bad comments. So I stopped looking at it (social media). Since then, I’m feeling pretty good without it.”
While Fils’ goal will undoubtedly be to become the first Frenchman to win a Grand Slam since Yannick Noah’s 1983 Roland Garros triumph, his immediate focus is on world number one Jannik Sinner in the Madrid semis on Friday.
“I haven’t lost a match on clay. He hasn’t lost a match on clay and hardcourts since a long time. It’s going to be pretty good,” Fils said.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)