Arthur Fils is the exception rather than the norm. He’s the flying Frenchman that can step on court for the first time after six months out with a stress fracture in his back and take flight – like he never left.
To be out that long, and with such a serious injury, can be detrimental to performance. Look no further than the struggles of Jack Draper at the moment to understand what the flipside looks like.
Fils, 21, has done nothing but win since his return to the ATP Tour in February, and he kept that momentum rolling on Wednesday night in Madrid, easing past Czechia’s Jiri Lehecka, 6-3, 6-4, with a composed performance to set up a semifinal clash with the only man hotter than him on tour: Jannik Sinner.
How does that sound to this year’s Barcelona champion, a winner of nine consecutive matches on the European clay?
“Sounds good, feels good. Very happy to be in the semis because the last two years, I never won a match—never won a set, actually,” he said.
Sinner, riding an even more impressive 22-match winning streak, has been nearly untouchable, but Fils isn’t backing down at the prospect of facing the World No. 1.
After his win over Lehecka, the Frenchman welcomed the challenge.
“I think it’s pretty good, especially on clay,” he said. “He’s the world number one. He is a huge champion. I mean, he’s won Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo… I’m going to try my best. It’s nice to step on court as the underdog, so it’s going to be fun.”
Fils became the first Frenchman to reach the Madrid semifinals since Gilles Simon in 2008—and improved to 11-1 in Masters 1000 events this season.
He was dominant against 2024 semifinalist Lehecka, not facing a single break point as he avenged a 6-2, 6-2 loss to the Czech in this year’s Miami semifinals. Fils converted both break points he earned and controlled the match from start to finish.
He broke in his opening return game and was never taken to deuce in the first set.
Another break in the seventh game of the second set proved decisive, as Lehecka again failed to push Fils to deuce. The Frenchman dropped just 13 points on serve in a commanding display.
What was most impressive down the stretch was Fils’ ability to stay consistent. Rather than shooting from the hip and pulling the trigger too early he was happy to make his opponent beat him.
“We know how big the forehand is, right? In fact, he’s got the biggest forehand on tour when it comes to speed,” said Tennis Channel’s Sam Querrey. “There were times today in the big moments where it felt like he was hitting it 90 percent, kind of… taming it down just a bit, making sure he got it in the court, because it’s big enough at 90 percent.”