Arthur Fils believes his opponent Felix Auger-Aliassime was harshly treated during their match at Indian Wells.
Fils continues to make his way back from the back injury, which prevented him from playing more than two matches in the nine months after Roland Garros.
The Frenchman has already found form in his comeback, with Fils reaching the final of the Qatar Open last month and he has continued this at Indian Wells.
Fils beat Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 7-6(9), to reach the quarterfinals of Indian Wells for a second consecutive year, but he believes the umpire made a mistake in his latest match.
Arthur Fils suggests Felix Auger-Aliassime did not deserve a time violation
At a crucial point in the match against Fils, Auger-Aliassime was given a time violation for taking too long on his serve.
This was something that Fils was asked about in his post-match press conference, with the 21-year-old calling out the timing of the decision from the umpire, claiming that Auger-Aliassime is usually playing within the 25 second time rule.
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“I think the umpire — well, there is a rule, so you need to play with the rule,” said Fils. “But the umpire sometimes should understand the moment of the match, and especially at that time when we play now with Felix, he got a time violation but for nothing.
“I mean, because I think that the electronic line didn’t work, and, I mean, I made the one return. Maybe it was out; maybe it was in. But it was very close. He start just to ask the umpire, Well, are you sure it was in, or whatever? Then the umpire from the worst give time violation. It’s a bit weird.
“There is the rule, but the umpire needs to understand the moment, as well. At that time, you shouldn’t give the time violation. I mean, of course, if the guy is always taking 26, 27, 28 seconds, then you give the time violation.
“But Felix is always on time, like every time that we play, he’s always on time. Okay, sometimes he can take a bit long, but he is always on time. So to bring a time violation on this, I think it’s not good.”
Arthur Fils discuss whether he feels more pressure coming back from injury
Fils has made a very impressive return to the ATP Tour, and he has already defended all 200 of the ranking points he earned at Indian Wells last year.
Despite this, the world number 32 was asked if he feels more pressure to defend ranking points when returning from injury.
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While Fils claimed that defending ranking points is not something he felt pressure to do, he suggested that there was a bit of pressure to reach the same level that enabled him to reach his career-high ranking of world number 14 last year.
“Well, the points, it’s okay. The points, they leave, they come back, it’s okay,” said Fils. “Sometimes you win some matches; sometimes you lose some. The points is not a big pressure for me.
“The only pressure that I got was would I be able to come back to my level to where I left, you know. That was the only question. You know, I talk a lot with my team, my friends about it. I’m, like, Well, I know I will be back, but what level?
“You know, I just had to keep working, stay very patient, like you said, because it’s long, it’s a long process. Eight months, man.
“So just stay very focused on the work, try to not watch the other players, you know, because, well, it’s nice to watch them for one tournament or a second tournament, but then you start to feel, okay, the guys are improving a lot.
“Me, I didn’t touch one racquet since six months. I don’t know how I’m gonna be after. So, you know, just try to focus on myself, my way to be back. And, yeah, I think we made a great job.”
After Indian Wells, Fils has 860 ranking points to defend in the coming months, which attributes to just under 60% of his ranking.
| Tournament | Points Arthur Fils is defending |
| Indian Wells | 200 (Already defended) |
| Miami Open | 200 |
| Monte Carlo Masters | 200 |
| Barcelona Open | 200 |
| Madrid Open | 10 |
| Italian Open | 100 |
| French Open | 100 |
| Canadian Open | 50 |
Fils will look to ease this pressure by reaching the semifinals of Indian Wells, as he now plays fourth seed Alexander Zverev.
This will be a seventh meeting between the two players, with Zverev leading the head-to-head against Fils 4-2.
However, Fils may be feeling quietly confident, as he won their only previous meeting on outdoor hardcourts at the Miami Open last year.
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