Indian Wells, California – Arthur Fils saved a match point to defeat Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the third round at the BNP Paribas Open.
It was the type of hurdle the explosive, animated Frenchman wouldn’t have cleared a year ago. “One year ago I think I would lose that match,” he told reporters on Tuesday night, after notching another hard-fought win over Marcos Giron to reach his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal. “So, yeah, more matches you play, more confidence you get, and even when you lose, you know what you have to do in the next matches to win it.
“So I think the experience helps me a lot now.”
Fils also used his experience to get past Giron, braving a pair of rain delays before gutting out the three set victory. He told French reporters that he did his best to stay calm, listening to afro beats while the players waited out the misty conditions on Tuesday.
When he lost the momentum to the Southern California native, he was quick to snatch it back in a decisive third set.
The decider was vintage Fils, as the 20-year-old dominated the forecourt with his heavy, punishing game, and rained down bomb serves in the 135-139 range against Giron. Fils won all nine of his second-serve points in the set and never faced a break point. He closed like an experienced veteran, holding serve with ease once he took the break early in the set.
“I knew I had to put much more intensity,” he said of his effort in the final set. “Because when I get back [from the resin delay] at 3-1, he was playing a bit faster than me. He was moving me around and was tough for me.
“So I said, ‘Okay, third set, you go, you go full. You hit all the first serves. You put a lot of kick in the second serve and all the forehand, you kill it.’
“Okay, maybe it's out sometime, but at the end, more in than out. So yeah, that was the tactic in the third set.”
Fils will face Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals on Thursday in the desert. He lost his only previous meeting to the Russian in Vienna in straight sets in 2023.
Blessed with an abundance of power, shotmaking flair, great touch and movement, Fils has all the tools to make a champion. But he knows he needs to harness his energy and work on the mental side of his game.
“For me, it's more about the focus,” he said. “I get broken and then I lose the focus, and I can lose again a game and, I don't know, just the focus went away. We talk a lot about it.”
He’s getting a chance to do just that here at Indian Wells.