Player Features
No cookies & a travelling physio: The changes that carried Fils from setback to surge
Frenchman to face Paul in Miami QFs Wednesday
March 25, 2026
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Arthur Fils is into the quarter-finals in Miami.
By ATP Staff
Arthur Fils’ 2026 season didn’t begin with a first-round match. It began with recovery. When the season opened, Fils was still sidelined, recovering from a stress fracture in his back that he sustained at Roland Garros last May. The injury eventually forced him to shut down his 2025 season in August, delaying his return to the Tour until February.
Yet, within a matter of weeks, Fils has managed to turn that delayed start into momentum. Since his return, Fils has reached the quarter-finals in Montpellier, the championship match in Doha, and now back-to-back quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open presented by Itau. As a result, the 21-year-old has surged to 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin.
“I am very happy to be back on Tour, it’s been a long, long time,” he said. “[I went] six, eight months without playing, so very happy to be back to compete against these guys.”
What makes the return notable is not just how quickly the results have come, but the number of changes Fils had to make to put himself in a position to be able to succeed. The recovery period forced him into a different daily structure.
“Now I’m travelling with my private physio,” Fils shared. “I think it’s already a big change, because I do a lot of treatment, in the morning, lunch time and evening as well. [I changed] the technique, I changed the serve a bit, I changed the way I move on the court, I changed the forehand a bit.
“We made with the team some big adjustments, especially with the physical part. I would take care of my body a bit more, but I was not thinking like this before. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m younger. It’s okay. I can handle everything’, but my back didn’t think that was the same.”
Fils admitted the more difficult shift was not technical, but off-court. Having started playing the sport as a five-year-old, the Frenchman was accustomed to old habits, and changes did not come easily.
“I never doubted that I was going to change it, but it’s not easy,” he said. “When it’s things that are not even on court, and are outside the court, and I’m like, ‘Well, that’s how I’m living, that’s my life’. And then you have to change it a little bit. You have to make a choice and be the best version that you can be.”
Part of his evolution also included a new perspective. In February, Fils announced that he began working with former World No. 2 Goran Ivanisevic. Although Ivanisevic has not been on site with him during the ‘Sunshine Double’, the communication has been consistent, and early returns of the partnership have been encouraging.
“He was a huge champion and one of the best coaches on the Tour,” Fils said. “We tried in Doha. It worked pretty good. I don’t know why and how, but it worked pretty good.
“It’s great to have him in the team. He’s really helping us even though he’s not here now, but you know, I have him on the phone a couple of times and he’s very close with Ivan, so it’s pretty easy.”
Among all the changes Fils has handled with grace, one in particular has been especially difficult for him.
“We also changed the nutrition a lot. I used to like to eat a lot of cookies,” he said. “Now I cannot anymore. We changed a couple of things and now it feels like it’s way better.”
The change was especially harder in Indian Wells, where cookies were readily available for players in the locker room.
“[I miss] chocolate chip cookies the most,” Fils shared. “The lockers, they have it. They have a whole box of cookies. I didn’t touch one for now. Pretty impressive.”
The Frenchman hopes there will be more treats in store on court when he takes on Tommy Paul in Wednesday’s Miami quarter-finals.