Fils Dominates Nakashima, Barcelona Quarterfinals Set

Just two months into his comeback from a stress fracture in his back, Arthur Fils is already proving to be a consistent force on the ATP Tour. 

The 21-year-old Frenchman became the first man from his country to reach three Barcelona quarterfinals on Thursday night, defeating Brandon Nakashima, 6-2, 6-3. 

Fils, who was 1-2 lifetime against Nakashima entering the match, dominated the contest by breaking serve five times and moving quickly ahead in both sets. 

The quality of his performance came as a relief after Fils had to battle against Terence Atmane to get through his first round match in Barcelona. He saved two match points in the contest. 

Was he confident that he was going to play well against Nakashima on Thursday? 

“No,” he said. “Especially with the match that I played in the first round, it was a tough match. I came on court without any expectations, just trying to play my best and trying to fight. And at the end, I played pretty good, so very happy with the way I played and focused already in the quarters.” 

Fils said that playing a match after having saved match points previously in the tournament helped him deal with the stress more effectively. 

“You don’t feel any pressure when you are one break down or 15-40,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Well, it has been worse,’ so it’s pretty cool.” 

Fils took care of his serve well against Nakashima, winning 23 of 28 first-serve points and dropping just 13 points on serve overall. He surrendered his only break when serving for the match at 6-2, 5-2, but quickly responded with a break to close out the match. 

“I think I served pretty good, actually, and the forehand was very good, so I was very happy with that,” he said. 

With today’s win, Fils ties Ben Shelton, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev on the list of most ATP quarterfinals reached in 2025 with five.

Elsewhere in Barcelona, No. 2 seeded Lorenzo defeated Corentin Moutet in an entertaining tussle, 6-3, 6-4. The Italian will face Fils in Friday’s quarterfinals. Andrey Rublev, the No. 5 seed was also a winner. He defeated Lorenzo Sonego, 6-2, 6-3. 

The quarterfinals in Barcelona, without top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, who pulled out of his second-round match due to a wrist injury, shape up as follows: