Arthur Fils, the French tennis player who reached a career-high No. 14 in the PIF ATP Rankings earlier this year, is set to return to competition at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto. Fils had withdrawn from Roland Garros after his second-round victory due to a stress fracture in his back.
“It’s pretty nice. It’s been a long time [that] I didn’t see [my] friends on the Tour, so now I am happy to be back,” Fils told ATPTour.com. “Of course, it changed a lot since two months. I was in shape, I was playing pretty good. Now I’m coming back, still in shape, but not playing good. But it’s pretty nice to be back and I’m enjoying [it].”
Fils spoke about the challenges of being away from the tour and missing out on interactions with fellow players.
“When I’m not there, I have another life, of course. I have friends from my hometown, my family and everything,” Fils said. “But when I step back into the Tour it’s always nice to see some familiar faces like Gael or Ben, or Foki. It’s nice to be back and to see these guys.”
The 21-year-old only resumed training less than two weeks ago as he recovers from injury and works towards regaining his form.
“When I stepped on the court, I was excited. After five minutes, I was already mad,” Fils said, cracking a laugh. “But it’s nice to be back to playing. It’s been 10 days now that I’ve been playing. I feel that the level is going better and better day after day. So, I’m pretty happy.”
This season, Fils has recorded 21 wins and 10 losses according to Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index statistics. Earlier in the year he made quarter-final appearances at both Indian Wells and Miami—two hard-court ATP Masters 1000 tournaments—and will look for similar consistency as he prepares for his upcoming match against Pablo Carreno Busta.
At this stage of his comeback, Fils says results are not his main focus.
“Just competing again. Just to step on the court,” Fils said. “People screaming my name and me trying to play my best tennis or at least just enjoy my time on the court.”