Arthur Fils has endured one of the stranger weeks in his career thus far, with his Japan Open run coming to an end.
However, the Frenchman was afforded far more time on court than would be expected for a quarter-final loss at an ATP 500-level event, given the fact that he actually had to play qualifying beforehand.
Due to an administrative error from his team, the newest member of the top ten had not confirmed his attendance in Tokyo. Therefore, with the wildcards having already been dished out, he was left at a loose end.
Arthur Fils qualified with minimal fuss, and impressed as he beat Frances Tiafoe en route to the quarter-finals.
In the end, he had more than enough chances to defeat Valentin Vacherot, and simply failed to make it count. He has since tried to explain what went wrong.
Arthur Fils admits ‘rare’ thing happened to him during Japan Open loss
Fils was rather analytical regarding his defeat, acknowledging the fact that he had squandered a break lead in both of the sets he eventually lost.
This was unique for him, as he admitted: “It’s true that it was a bit the same in the first and third set. I had a break ahead in both, but I didn’t manage the end of the set well. It’s something that rarely happens to me, but it can happen. Now, it’s up to me to work well with my team so that this happens less and less often.”
Is Arthur Fils the next best player after Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner?
Asked whether the additional pressure of being a top-ten player had any impact, the 23-year-old insisted: “No. I still have ten years left on the circuit! So it’s okay; it’s not the pressure. There is still so much to be accomplished. There are still a lot of points to take; everything remains to be played.”
He concluded by ruling out any potential physical issues that may have contributed to his defeat: “No, physically, I don’t think that was the problem. I’ve already played six or seven games in the same week, so it’s not something unusual for me.”
Fils explained exactly how he ended up in qualifying before the tournament began. Having won XX matches and lost in the quarter-finals, it still represented a solid week of tennis for him, despite having actually played enough matches to have been a finalist usually.
Arthur Fils learns Shanghai Masters draw
This run at the Japan Open should, at the very least, have provided Fils with ample preparation for the upcoming Shanghai Masters event due to start next week.
And, with Jannik Sinner’s shock withdrawal, it feels like once again anybody could challenge for this title.
Fils won his maiden Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati earlier this year, so he has form at a tournament of this magnitude.
He will be the eighth seed at this event, and is projected to play Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals.
That is, if he can bypass a potential third-round clash with Alex Michelsen, and Rafael Jodar in the Round of 16. He is also on Carlos Alcaraz’s half of the draw.
