“Against him, I feel like I’m playing great tennis, but…”: Arthur Fils stopped in the semi-finals in Madrid by Jannik Sinner

End of course for Arthur Fils at the Masters 1000 in Madrid. The Frenchman, 25th player in the world, was beaten in two sets by Jannik Sinner (6-2, 6-4) this Friday, May 1, in the semi-final of the tournament. Very fit since his return to competition two months ago, the Frenchman ― winner of the ATP 500 Barcelona tournament on April 19 ― this time was no match for the world number one.

In a packed Manolo-Santana court, the 21-year-old Frenchman was quickly asphyxiated by his opponent. Not aggressive enough in return, the Habs also narrowly missed the serve (39% success on their first ball), quickly letting their opponent win the first set 6-2.

“The first set went very well for him and was quite difficult for me. I had to adapt to the speed of his ball. When I’m on the court facing him, I have the impression of playing exceptional tennis, but it’s not enough,” reacted the Frenchman at a press conference.

A service that was lacking

More solid in the 2nd set, Arthur Fils ― who remained on 9 consecutive victories on clay ― finally fell back into his faults at the worst of times. At 4-4 on his serve, the Frenchman failed to pass his first ball and was broken on a final backhand winner from Jannik Sinner, after a rally of 24 shots.

“When we got to 4-4, I felt like a black hole,” the 21-year-old recalled at a press conference. I tried to do another ace and I said to myself: Arthur, are you crazy or what? Change something! But it took me too long to react and adapt. I hope this doesn’t happen again in the next matches. »

Still no reference match against the big names

Very impressive since his return to competition ― after being away from the courts for eight months due to a back injury ― Arthur Fils has shown that he still has a glass ceiling to break. Unable to get a break point in this match, the native of Bondoufle has not beaten any member of the top 5 in the ATP rankings this year (Zverev, Alcaraz and Sinner).

At a press conference, the future world No. 17 also recognized that for the moment he had “had very good matches against very good opponents but not against the best”, explaining that he must “play more matches at this level”.

Three weeks before the start of Roland-Garros, Jannik Sinner will try to win a 5th consecutive Masters 1000 title on Sunday – which would constitute a record – against the winner of the confrontation between the German Alexander Zverev (3rd in the world) and the Belgian Alexander Blockx (69th).