Arthur Fils has endured a strange week in Brussels, with his time in the Belgian capital having now been brought to a rather abrupt end.
As is customary, the top seed at this ATP 250 event was given a bye through the first round. However, when his second-round opponent then withdrew, the Frenchman had reached the quarter-finals without even setting foot on court.
Whilst his straight-sets win over Alex Michelsen was impressive, it actually marked his only win of the week, having since been beaten in a dramatic semi-final showdown against Jan-Lennard Struff.
Falling in a third-set tiebreak is a crushing way to lose any match, especially when he served for the win as well.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Arthur Fils cut a frustrated figure in his post-match press conference, delivering a refreshingly honest and rather emotional take on the match and his week as a whole.
Arthur Fils reacts after losing dramatic Brussels semi-final
He began with a brief assessment of his loss, stating: “It’s hard to see the positives after a defeat like that, a match like that.”
Fils’ frustration came because, despite losing, the match was at one stage totally in his hands.
Tell us the five names you think will qualify for the ATP Finals and why 👇
There’s not many tournaments left to play…
The 22-year-old continued: “I think I created chances for myself. I tried to take them. Today, things didn’t go my way. So many things have gone my way since the start of the season that sometimes it happens.
“It’s tough, honestly, right now, in the heat of the moment, I find it hard to see how I could have done better.
“Of course, maybe I should have mixed up my serve, maybe not gone for the ace, gone at the body a bit. Maybe I could have come to the net more. When I come to the net at 30-40, he hits a good passing shot. I didn’t play the shot very well, and he played it better than me. Credit to him.”
In that same press conference, Fils once again chatted about the ATP Finals, as his qualification feels all but secured.
However, his outlook was far more dismissive than it was just days ago, as he claimed: “I’m mainly wondering how I managed to lose that match. I’m not really thinking about the ATP Finals. It’s not a big deal.
“In any case, it’s going to be a very tough end to the year, so we all know that. It’s not the main objective. I’m mainly thinking about how I’ll go about my next matches to manage to close them out more simply.”
Arthur Fils gets nightmare Basel Open draw
Things get no easier for Fils, who faces a rather quick turnaround as he rushes from Brussels to Basel.
And, despite being the number two seed, the draw has not been kind to the current world number eight.
In the very first round of the Swiss Indoors, he will have to face the ever-dangerous Hubert Hurkacz.
If he manages to bypass the big-serving Polish threat, either Botic van de Zandschulp or Michelsen will await him.
Should Fils get through these tricky opening two rounds, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz feel like the favourites to be his quarter-final opponent, with Rafael Jodar the other highest-ranked player in his half of the draw.
Anyone from Ben Shelton to Novak Djokovic could realistically be his fellow finalist, if he makes it that far.
