ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

November 1, 2026

Arthur Fils

Press Conference

(In French.)

THE MODERATOR: How do you feel?

ARTHUR FILS: I feel great. All is well. My body is going well. I will practice on-site for the first time this afternoon, and then we'll see.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Can you explain what has happened since Basel? How did you feel when you get into the court and out when you left the court?

ARTHUR FILS: Well, since Basel, I went back on the same day. I did a lot of care. Yesterday I was off. Today still I had some treatment and then practice on-site this afternoon. All seem to be fine today.

Q. Let's go back to your retirement in Basel. Was it your own decision or your team's decision to have the best opportunities for the Masters in Paris?

ARTHUR FILS: No. It was rather not to aggravate something that I might have had. So it was out of precaution for myself.

I did talk about this quickly with the team at the end of the set, and we made the decision to stop the match then.

Q. Is your participation here confirmed, or are you going to wait two hours after practice to confirm your participation?

ARTHUR FILS: It's confirmed 100%.

Q. Every time we see you wounded, we have concerns. There are a lot of questions being raised when we think about what happened to you last year. Do you manage to avoid this, every time you have a pain, do you manage not to be too frightened?

ARTHUR FILS: It's true that it is not easy, because I get to know my body better and better, and I know that I shouldn't push the boundaries too far away. Because last time I was eight months off and was a pity, so I have to be very careful. I have to understand when I can push and when I shouldn't.

I have to strike the right balance, and it is hard to find. That is what I try to do on an everyday basis, and my team is helping me to achieve that.

Q. We're close to the Masters. You should be nervous. How do you feel? Because you're not far from being qualified for the ATP Finals. So are you more nervous? How do you manage this pressure, which is quite high?

ARTHUR FILS: I think there is not more pressure. I feel more excited. I try to have positive vibes, because it's a good thing. I'm 22 years old. I could be qualified for the ATP Finals.

As I said earlier, if I can't do it this year, then I'll try the following years. So of course it would be good if I manage to do it this year. I play well.

But then as to your question about my arms shaking, well, not really, but we started indoors. The matches are tougher. We're more head-to-head. Everybody serves well, everybody returns well, there is a lot of tiebreaks. I have had a lot of tiebreaks since I started the indoor season, so we'll see.

Q. It's the 40th Anniversary of RPM. Do you have an anecdote on this tournament? For two years it's been here at La Defense. What did you think about it growing up, actually when you were younger than you are now?

ARTHUR FILS: It's my first time here. I have never been on this court yet. It will be interesting.

As for RPM, if I have a memory, it's Gael when he played against Cilic and he managed to return every single ball, and the crowd was crazy. I think that was one of my best memories growing up as a child.

Q. You said you had difficulties managing your body sometime. In Basel, we thought that it was your leg. It might be your back. What is it, exactly? I'm not talking about these months, but do you feel that you have a threat hanging over your head all the time with your body?

ARTHUR FILS: More or less. You know, it's the same for every young player on the tour. You have a lot of young players getting injured, because there is a lot of tournaments, a lot of matches back to back, and they are high-intensity matches.

I don't think I'm the only one having that feeling. We all have this. In Basel, it was my left leg. It hurt. It's the muscle, yes, but all is fine. There's no concern. All is fine.

Q. Playing in France, for a French player, it's important, especially here when you actually have a huge crowd. So I guess we're going to have a wonderful atmosphere. Are you actually looking forward to it?

ARTHUR FILS: Yes. Since the beginning of the season, I have been waiting for playing in Paris. I couldn't play in Roland, but I'm looking forward to playing here.

I don't know if the atmosphere will be as crazy as in Bercy, but the room is huge, so matches are going to be tense. The scorelines are going to be tight. So the atmosphere will be wonderful. So I'm really, really looking forward to playing there.