Arthur Fils has qualified for the ATP Finals for the first time in his career in 2026.
Fils has enjoyed a breakthrough season this year, winning two ATP titles including his first Masters tournament at the Cincinnati Open.
This has enabled Fils to break into the top 10 for the first time in his career, and he has now officially qualified for the ATP Finals, becoming the first French player to do so since the now-retired Gael Monfils in 2016.
Despite Fils’ impressive achievement, he has actually now joined an unwanted list after qualifying for the ATP Finals this year.
Give us one bold prediction for the final months of the 2026 tennis season!
Arthur Fils has only won one Grand Slam match in 2026 despite qualifying for the ATP Finals
Fils returned to the ATP Tour in February after playing just two matches in nine months following a period on the sidelines due to a stress fracture in his lower back.
Since then, Fils has won 41 of his 56 matches, reaching three finals this year and being particularly successful at Masters 1000 tournaments, having won the Cincinnati Open and reached the semi-finals of both the Miami Open and the Madrid Open.
Despite his success at Masters 1000 tournaments, Fils was unable to translate this to the Grand Slam tournaments. Fils missed both the Australian Open and Roland Garros through injury, and was only able to win one match across both Wimbledon and the US Open, where he lost to former Grand Slam finalists Matteo Berrettini and Stefanos Tsitsipas, respectively.
As a result, Fils has become just the second player in history to have qualified for the ATP Finals in the same year that they have won less than two Grand Slam matches. Fils joins American player Brad Gilbert on this list, who did not win a single Grand Slam match in 1989.
Like Fils, Gilbert also missed the Australian Open and Roland Garros that year, before losing in the first round of Wimbledon and the US Open. Gilbert found success outside of the majors after winning five ATP titles in 1989, including the Cincinnati Open like Fils.
| Grand Slam | Arthur Fils’ results in 2026 | Brad Gilbert’s results in 1989 |
| Australian Open | Did not play | Did not play |
| Roland Garros | Did not play | Did not play |
| Wimbledon | Second Round – Lost to Matteo Berrettini | First Round – Lost to John Fitzgerald |
| US Open | First Round – Lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas | First Round – Lost to Todd Witsken |
How did Brad Gilbert perform at the 1989 ATP Finals?
Fils has now booked his spot into the ATP Finals just like Gilbert did in 1989, but he will be hoping for a better outcome at this year’s tournament in Turin.
Gilbert did not make it past the round-robin stage at the 1989 ATP Finals, which were held in New York, having won only one of the three matches he played. Gilbert lost to both eventual champion Stefan Edberg and runner-up Boris Becker, but did beat a 19-year-old Andre Agassi, who he would later go on to coach to six Grand Slam titles.
- Boris Becker beat Gilbert, 2-6 6-3 6-4
- Stefan Edberg beat Gilbert, 6-1 6-3
- Gilbert beat Andre Agassi, 3-6 6-3 6-3
This was the final of three appearances Gilbert made at the ATP Finals in his career, with his best result coming in 1987 when he made it to the semi-finals.
Fils will be hoping to go even further at the ATP Finals this year in Turin, as the 22-year-old bids to become the first Frenchman to win the year-end tournament in history. Fils is one of six players to have confirmed their spot in this year’s ATP Finals, as he will be joined by Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev and Flavio Cobolli.
The final two spots at this year’s ATP Finals will be decided at the Paris Masters, with Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul attempting to overtake the current occupiers of the remaining qualification places in Frances Tiafoe and Rafael Jodar.
