The French Open fanbase received a crushing blow on Friday. French player Arthur Fils was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury. As a result, Andrey Rublev will advance to the fourth round.
ARTHUR FILS FIGHTS THROUGH SO MUCH PAIN TO WIN IN 5
INCREDIBLE SCENES IN PARIS pic.twitter.com/IBG9BJzW88
— Barstool Tennis (@StoolTennis) May 29, 2025
Heartful moment between fils and his dad after today’s win!❤️🩹 pic.twitter.com/zhOafP7Kra
— Arthur Fils Updates (@filsupdates) May 29, 2025
Fils will hold a press conference on Saturday to discuss his injury, but tennis fans are left wondering if he is dealing with the same issues that Alex de Minaur and Casper Ruud are referring to, injury and burnout from a long season. He was hurting as he earned a marathon five set win in the second round.
Arthur Fils Successful 2025 Season
Arthur Fils has played a lot of tennis since Indian Wells in early March. He holds the distinction of being the only ATP player to make the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte Carlo.
At 20 years of age, he has an impressive 19-10 record in 2025 and is climbing the rankings. This injury could not come at a worse time, during his home Grand Slam and as the tennis calendar is about to flip to grass court season with an eye on Wimbledon.
Too Much Tennis
The ATP (and WTA) need to be cognizant of these marathon seasons and mandatory tournaments which are taking a physical and mental toll on the players.
At some point, someone needs to trim the schedule and give these players bye weeks as there are in other professional sports. Otherwise, the players will continue to be victims of the schedule. It is not as simple as players taking weeks off; there are ramifications for those choices unless the player is injured. If a healthy player chooses not to play, ranking points, bonus money, and favorable seeding in tournaments are in jeopardy.
It is unfortunate that Fils will not get to play again in Paris this year. The hometown crowd absolutely loves him, and while injuries are inevitable in sports, this one is especially painful because of the timing.
