Arthur Fils booked his place in the third round of the Madrid Open after a gritty battle against Ignacio Buse, who pushed him to the edge of elimination. While his resilience stood out, a blunt “shut the f**k up” remark from his fitness coach in the third set also sparked what turned into a remarkable comeback victory.
Arthur Fils Explains How Fitness Coach’s “Shut the F**k Up” Remark Fueled His Comeback Win in Madrid 2R
Fresh off his ATP 500 triumph in Barcelona, where he defeated Lorenzo Musetti, Rafael Jódar, and Andrey Rublev, Fils arrived in Madrid with momentum. However, Buse pushed him to the limit from the outset and edged the opening set in a tight 7-6(4) tiebreak.
The Frenchman showed resilience in the second set, taking it to a tiebreak and edging it 7-6(3) to force a decider. The contest remained fiercely contested, with both players pushing each other throughout, and Fils even showing frustration after falling an early break behind in the final set. However, the 21-year-old held his nerve to come through a gripping battle, sealing a 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-5 victory in two hours and 52 minutes.
Following his hard-fought win, Fils became a part of a brief conversation with Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj. The Frenchman admitted he grew frustrated with his level after the first set and began overreacting on court. His team urged him to keep fighting, and a blunt intervention from his fitness coach snapped him out of it.
“Well, I think it’s really about that because the level of the first set was not unbelievable from my side. And then I started to get a bit mad. And I start to talk with my team, and they tell me, “Look, you’ve got to fight. It’s not gonna be easy, you have to fight, man.” He said.
“At one point, my fitness coach, and in the third set, I got one break down, and I started to go crazy, and he told me, Okay, I’m going to say, but I don’t want to fight. He told me, “Shut the f**k up.” And he tells me that, and I am like, “Oh, I am starting to get mad at him.” And he tells me, “No shut the f**k up (laughs),” he added.
That moment helped him refocus, calm down, and think more clearly, improving his tennis.
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“It actually helped me because then I start to be quite and I start to think a bit more about the tennis and it was a bit better,” he concluded.
Fils will next take on Emilio Nava in the third round of the Masters 1000 event, marking their first meeting on tour. According to PFSN’s exclusive simulator, the Frenchman is a strong favorite, with an 87% probability of progressing to the next round.
