By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, November 2, 2026
Photo credit: Screen Shot
Arthur Fils will play Paris in a final push to qualify for Turin.
The 22-year-old French stars Fils met the media today and said he’s “confirmed 100 percent” to play this week’s Rolex Paris Masters.
Fils retired from the Basel quarterfinals due to injury trailing Taylor Fritz, 2-6, 0-2 last week.
Today, Fils said he’s been coping with back and left leg issues but will believes “all is fine” physically and asserts he will be ready to play in front of home fans in Paris.
“It’s the same for every young player on the tour. You have a lot of young players getting injured, because there is a lot of tournaments, a lot of matches back to back, and they are high-intensity matches,” Fils told the media in Paris. “I don’t think I’m the only one having that feeling. We all have this.
“In Basel, it was my left leg. It hurt. It’s the muscle, yes, but all is fine. There’s no concern. All is fine.”
Fils said he’s pumped to play in what should be an electric atmosphere in Paris.
The sixth-seeded Fils has a first-round bye and will face either Czech qualifier Tomas Machac or French wild card Kyrian Jacquet in his opener.
“Since the beginning of the season, I have been waiting for playing in Paris. I couldn’t play in Roland, but I’m looking forward to playing here,” Fils said. “I don’t know if the atmosphere will be as crazy as in Bercy, but the room is huge, so matches are going to be tense.
“The scorelines are going to be tight. So the atmosphere will be wonderful. So I’m really, really looking forward to playing there.”
Currently, Fils is in seventh place in the ATP Race to Turin with 3,535 points. That puts Cincinnati champion Fils ahead of No. 8 Frances Tiafoe (3,390), No. 9 Rafael Jodar (3,234) and No. 10 Alex de Minaur (3,170).
The top eight finishers in the ATP Race qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.
World No. 1 Alexander Zverev, seven-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz, US Open finalist Ben Shelton and former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev have all qualified for Turin. Reigning Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner also qualified, but he’s out for the season nursing a right knee injury.
“I feel more excited. I try to have positive vibes, because it’s a good thing. I’m 22 years old. I could be qualified for the ATP Finals,” Fils said. “As I said earlier, if I can’t do it this year, then I’ll try the following years. So of course it would be good if I manage to do it this year. I play well.”
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