ROLAND GARROS

May 26, 2025

Arthur Fils

Press Conference

A. FILS/N. Jarry

6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. I know you've come here not just to win one match, but how significant is it to win your first match here?

ARTHUR FILS: Feel good. Feel very good. Yeah, like I said before, I lost twice first round here. So to win it here today, it's kind of a feeling of relief.

Yeah, was a tough match today. I could have won it in three sets. Did some mistake. He played great. I had to go to a fourth set, to a fourth.

But happy with the way I deal with the crowd, with the energy of my level. Yeah, let's see on Thursday.

Q. You always talk about needing to stay calm, not get too emotional.

ARTHUR FILS: Yeah.

Q. In a match like this, when you lost the third set, the atmosphere is amazing, how pleased are you with the way you handled that?

ARTHUR FILS: Yeah, I mean, I did pretty good today. I didn't get mad. Sometimes I can get mad (smiling). But no, today just stay calm.

I was feeling even if I lost the third, I got so many occasions, so I was feeling pretty good. I said, Okay, it's all right. You are going to have some occasion in the fourth. You just have to take it this time.

The atmosphere, the crowd really helped me today. Really helped me to get through it. Yeah, that's it.

Q. I wanted to ask about your coach. I read you said he's very direct, not afraid to tell you things.

ARTHUR FILS: Yeah.

Q. In what way is he different to other different coaches?

ARTHUR FILS: He almost hit me at the end of the match. He said man, C'mon, you have so many occasions, you need to take one, you don't need to be scared.

Whatever, he's very direct. Very direct. But I like it. At least we know in which way we want to go. That's what we are doing right now. It's pretty nice.

Q. As a tennis player, one of the things you have to do is the anti-doping. How are you with the one hour every day? How hard was it to adjust to giving one hour of your day?

ARTHUR FILS: It's okay, I give the hour at 6 a.m., 6 to 7. I know I'm in my hotel room.

But yeah, it's a tough subject. It's for every athlete, we are a bit under pressure about it. I got some tough doping tests, the guy is coming at 7:15. You still have to do it even if the guy is not coming in the time slot. You still have to do it, otherwise it's like, no, he didn't want to do it. Then you got to, how you say?

Q. No-show.

ARTHUR FILS: One no-show. Whatever.

It's very tough as an athlete to deal with this. But we don't have any other choice. We have to do it otherwise we don't play, so...

It is what it is.

Q. I've heard from other players that they've found themselves in weird situations when they can't pee. They've had a stranger in their house sitting and waiting. Have you ever had any weird situations so far?

ARTHUR FILS: Man, one stranger who is looking at you when you're peeing is pretty tough. Every time it's a weird situation.

But otherwise, no, I mean, everything is okay.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Maybe the term 'pressure' is a bit excessive. Was there particular expectation with regards to this match? You said 'relief' in English. You lost the first two rounds here in Paris, in the Olympic Games here in Paris also. Were you really afraid of this first round this year or was there expectation?

ARTHUR FILS: I wasn't necessarily afraid, but I really wanted to win because, well, the previous matches against Matteo or Fokki, they're pretty good players. It was 50/50. Today I went out there on the court and I knew I was playing a good game. I thought I really had a chance. I just had to take that chance.

It's always good to win this type of match. I've always said that the first round is the most complicated one for me. Once I got over that first round, my self-confidence builds and I feel good. So yes, it's great.

Q. We saw a lot of relief at the end of the last ball. First win, something happens.

ARTHUR FILS: Yes, yes, relief. I was happy. It's one match like any other, but it's really good to win here.

Yeah, you just have to get over the first hurdle everywhere. This is one of the last ones I had to achieve. I'm happy and off we go.

Q. I was talking about you with Jo before the beginning of the tournament. He said you were clearly progressing, in particular physically. You were able to be more physically constant today. Is that what you're feeling? Do you feel that you're able to have more endurance in the matches?

ARTHUR FILS: At the end of the fourth set, I still had a few sets in my legs. As I said, I finished far better than I started. At the beginning I was a bit slow. It took me time to find my pace.

At the beginning of the fourth set right through to the end, that was a pace that I can hold for a long time. We train for that. I spent a lot of time at the gym and on the court. Yeah, we do tricky exercises. We do cardio exercises to be able to have endurance in the long matches. That's why I'm not afraid of them.

Q. With regard to the evolution of your career, we saw you very frustrated in Monte-Carlo after your defeat. You only lost to players in the top three this season. All of the other matches on clay you won. I forgot Madrid. Put Madrid to one side. You're very young and you're not very far from the inner circle.

ARTHUR FILS: Yes, I'm training. That's what I'm training for. We do the job with the team out on the court, what we do outside the court. We really give it our all.

But on the clay court, I do feel good. I play well. I lost twice against Carlos, once against Sascha. Carlos in Monte-Carlo, I wasn't far off. Sascha in Rome, I played well. These are defeats that are very encouraging actually. I know what my level is.

I know I'm on the right track. We must not run away with ourselves. It can take time. It might take years. It might take one, two, three, four years.

I work hard. One day or another it will pay off.

Q. During a match in the president's stands there were some players from the Paris Saint-Germain football team.

ARTHUR FILS: Oh, yes? I didn't see them.

Q. There was Ousmane watching the match spending the day here in the stadium, Neves. Quite a few players are saying on Saturday they want to watch the final of the Champions League. What is your favorite club?

ARTHUR FILS: It's for sure Saturday I'm in front of the TV. If unfortunately I'm on the courts here...

Where is it being played? Munich. If I'm not on the courts here, then I'll go to Munich to see the match. I don't know if I'll see it live or on TV, but don't worry, I'll see the match.