Arthur Fils, already top 20 in the world, learns how to play tennis at the Australian Open

3 months ago

Nearly a year ago, the goals he set for himself for the season had little to do with his ranking. He wanted to win some tournaments, qualify for the Olympics, and most of all, learn to focus better.(Top photo: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake / Associated Press) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement “He showed me that even in […]

Nearly a year ago, the goals he set for himself for the season had little to do with his ranking. He wanted to win some tournaments, qualify for the Olympics, and most of all, learn to focus better.(Top photo: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake / Associated Press)

“He showed me that even in practice he’s going 100 percent every time,” Fils said of Nadal during an interview in Australia in January. “He is going full, full, full. Even in practice, he is fighting for every point.”“You are going to get very high in the ranking quickly and then you know you start to play some tough matches, tough tournaments,” he said in Melbourne, a brief twinge of pain in his eyes at the memory. “You start to understand that you have to work a lot, a lot, a lot, and it’s not going to be easy at all.”

Arthur Fils’ win over Alexander Zverev in Hamburg gave him the first ATP Tour title of his career. (Frank Molter / Picture Alliance via Getty Images)

If you asked an AI chatbot to design a tennis champion and it didn’t spit out something that bore a striking physical resemblance to Fils, it’s entirely possible that you failed to input the proper prompts.“The more you are playing it’s better and better,” he said. “Reset. That’s it. Even if it’s tough, you have to reset.”This is what Fils is learning to do on the fly, even as someone at the very top of the sport he is playing.“I had great feelings on the court. I was just missing sometimes. I said to myself, ‘Even if you are two sets down, maybe you’re going to have some occasion to win the serve and then we see.’ If I’m losing my mind, for sure I don’t have any more occasion. So the best thing is to stay very, very calm and to try the best and let’s see.”By the time he got to Wimbledon, he was talking about working harder to stay composed. He breaks the occasional racket and lets his anger linger longer than is helpful sometimes, though far less often than he used to. In London, he made the quarterfinals and then came into the Paris Olympics with high hopes after beating Alexander Zverev in Germany to win the 500-level Hamburg event. In Paris, he lost to Matteo Arnaldi in the first round, the disappointment lingering like his on-court anger can at times. It contributed to upset losses during the North American hard-court swing, he said. Then he won another title in Tokyo. The oscillations he is learning to understand.MELBOURNE, Australia — It’s possible that Arthur Fils became the player so many people think he could be as the rain pounded on the roof of Margaret Court Arena Sunday afternoon in Melbourne.