Three weeks after his return, after eight months of absence due to a back injury, the Parisian, opposed this Friday to Jakub Mensik (from 7 p.m.), could find Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the ATP 500 in Qatar.
Son is back in business
The great French hope, who was on the verge of entering the Top 10 in 2025 (14th), was stopped in his tracks because of his stress fracture in his back at Roland-Garros. He made a short appearance on the circuit at the end of July at the Masters 1000 in Toronto (defeat at the 2e round). A recovery too early for his back, still bruised. He hadn’t been seen in competition since. The Ile-de-France native (finally) returned to competition in France during the ATP 250 in Montpellier. A promising return before logically giving in against Felix Auger-Alliassime (7e world) in quarters. Beaten from the start in Rotterdam against the very solid Alex de Minaur (6e world), Son has just had three successes at the ExxonMobil Qatar Open. After a roller coaster start against the Pole Kamil Majchrzak (6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4), the current 40th in the world was very solid against his compatriot Quentin Halys (6-1, 7-6 (9/7), then in the quarters against the 22nde mondial Jiri Lehecka (6-3, 6-3) : «I didn’t know I was going to play this well this quickly, that’s for sure“, he declared at a press conference. You don’t know what to expect when you come back from an injury after six to eight months. I’m pretty happy with the way I’m playing right now. It’s not my best tennis yet, but we’re getting there.»
A “new Son”
The “new” Son sports a different hairstyle and, above all, has lost “6 to 7 kg », he who has been working with a nutritionist for five months. He therefore had to draw a line under the sweet desserts that he likes. “I try to optimize my project and my body », he confided to us in Hérault. Very sharp, capable of stringing together serves at more than 200 km/hour, and still just as impactful with his forehand, the 21-year-old doesn’t give up on the court. A new attitude that we had already noticed last spring before his body gave up on him: “I discovered that I was quite mentally strong, because I didn’t really think about whether I would come back. I was sure that I would return to my level, and certainly to a higher level. » Away from the courts, Fils took advantage of the fall and winter to rebuild his body. The student of Croatian Ivan Cinkus notably changed his medical staff. To avoid relapsing. In Montpellier, he whispered to us: « I will travel all the time with a physiotherapist from now on (the German Christophe Seiler). The days can be a little longer, but it’s part of my daily life to protect my back now.”
“My goal is to be more consistent: everyone knows I’m one of the best when I play well, but I have to be one of the best even when I play badly. »
Arthur Fils at a press conference in Doha
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The new collaboration with Goran Ivanisevic
It’s the surprise of the week. Always accompanied by Ivan Cinkus, his coach for a year Son works with the Croatian Goran Ivanisevic. Novak Djokovic’s former coach is a big name who doesn’t speak his mind. Stefanos Tsitsipás, who had worked briefly with the Croatian, can attest to this. Ivanisevic had thus publicly questioned the Greek’s professional involvement. Which a priori should not happen with the rigorous and ambitious Frenchman: “ He knows my other coach, Ivan Cinkus, very wellslipped Son. So the connection was quite easy. We decided to give it a try. So far, it’s working pretty well. During the match (editor’s note: against Lehecka), He gave me some tips to improve. I followed them and it worked. I am young and I have a lot of ambition: since I was little, I have wanted to be one of the best tennis players and do my best to win big titles, Grand Slam tournaments, if possible. So I hope it will help me. My goal is to be more consistent: everyone knows I’m one of the best when I play well, but I have to be one of the best even when I play badly. »
The Mensik obstacle to overcome and important weeks to come
Before perhaps hoping to face Carlos Alcaraz, the best player in the world in the final on Saturday, Son will have to dominate another great hope of world tennis Jakub Mensik, 20 years old. The winner of the Miami Masters 1000, surprise winner of Jannik Sinner in the quarters, is slightly favorite against the Frenchman whom he had dominated (7-6 6-1) in the quarters in Miami last season during their only confrontation on the big circuit. A final in Qatar would obviously be a very good performance for the 40e world who will have to defend a lot of points in the coming weeks. Between March and April, the Essonnian had completed three quarters in the Masters 1000 in 2025 (Indian Wels, Miami and Monte-Carlo) and a semi-final at the ATP 500 in Barcelona. Because if his back continues to leave him alone, we should count on Arthur Fils in the coming weeks.
