Arthur Fils has continued his impressive form after returning to the ATP Tour following his injury.
Fils suffered a stress fracture in his back last year, meaning that he only played two matches in nine months before returning to the tour in February.
There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Frenchman upon return, but Fils reached the Qatar Open final in just his third tournament back.
Fils has now reached back-to-back quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Miami, and he has now responded when asked if he thinks he is playing better tennis now than he was before he got injured.
Arthur Fils believes he has improved his game since his injury
Fils reached the quarterfinals of Indian Wells and the Miami Open last year, and faced a lot of pressure to defend these significant number of ranking points.
The world number 31 has done just that, with Fils beating Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6(4)-7, 6-4 in his latest match at the Miami Open.
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After returning to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, Fils claimed that he is now playing better tennis than before his injury.
Fils also spoke about his upcoming quarterfinals with Tommy Paul, as he seeks revenge after losing their only previous meeting at the 2023 Shanghai Masters.
“Yes, definitely,” said Fils, as reported by L’Equipe. “I’ve improved in many areas. I’ve won quite a few matches. That’s cool, there are a lot of positives.
“But I have to stay focused like this to reach even greater heights. It’s not easy; I’m playing against good players, and when you reach the quarterfinals, everyone plays well. Tommy Paul is in good form; he beat me once. I have a score to settle; we’ll see how it goes.”
Arthur Fils explains what Goran Ivanisevic has helped him improve
One of the biggest changes Fils has made since returning to the ATP Tour is adding former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic to his team.
Ivanisevic has previously won Grand Slam titles as the coach of Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic, and he has been helping Fils since February.
Although he has not been actually present with Fils in Miami, he has been helping improve his serve, alongside his main coach Ivan Cinkus.
“I’m focused on my zones. I’m trying to mix things up a bit,” Fils said about his serve. “We’re doing a lot of work with the team on that, with Goran but especially with Ivan on the serve. I can see it’s paying off and there’s no reason for it to stop.”
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Fils will look to achieve his best ever result at a Masters 1000 tournament when he plays the aforementioned Paul.
There is a huge opening for the four remaining players in the top half of the Miami Open men’s singles draw, as Taylor Fritz’s loss means there are no longer any top 10 players in this section.
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