ROLAND GARROS

May 28, 2023

Arthur Fils

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Is there any questions in English for Arthur?

Q. Hi, Arthur. I was curious, Yannick Noah mentioned you yesterday as sort of --

ARTHUR FILS: I didn't see.

Q. He was speaking here, and he sort of mentioned you as he said, I've heard this Arthur Fils is pretty good. I was sort of curious how aware you were of him and his history and big fan? He played a long time before you were born.

ARTHUR FILS: I wasn't born. I wasn't born, but what he did is unbelievable. But I wasn't born, but what he did is unbelievable.

Of course, I watched his final during all my life. I watched the match point with his serve and after his dad was coming on the court. So, yeah, of course, he is one of my idols, but from a long, long time.

Q. Does living up to that legend -- obviously it's been a long time since a French man has won here. Does that put extra pressure on you or other French players, or do you think about that?

ARTHUR FILS: No, no, no. I'm not thinking about that. Of course, it's been a long time that a French didn't win a Grand Slam. But, no, no extra pressure. I'm young, I'm 18, so I have all my career in front of me, so I have time.

Q. Who are your other idols besides Yannick?

ARTHUR FILS: My idols? Roger Federer when he was playing, but now it's Djokovic and Nadal.

Q. Obviously you've just won your first title on clay, but what are you most comfortable on? Which is your favorite?

ARTHUR FILS: Like on one this week I will say clay now. More seriously, I like both. I didn't play a lot on grass, but on hard court and on clay, I like both of the surface, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Tomorrow have you seen the program? You're playing on Simonne-Mathieu. Quite a hot court with a lot of atmosphere against an opponent who plays very well on clay court. How are you comprehending this match and how do you feel physically after your win yesterday?

ARTHUR FILS: I feel good. I traveled yesterday after my match, and I trained for one hour today. I'm ready for Roland. It's going to be a great match on a great court with the audience behind me.

We are playing for this type of match. I'm going to enjoy it and see what happens.

Q. I would like to come back over the past week. You had an opponent, one who was disqualified and another one who abandoned. It was a marathon. What was your emotional experience over the past week with the win?

ARTHUR FILS: Well, it was a good experience. It's never emotionally easier to win thanks to a disqualification of your opponent, especially when it's a good friend.

I would have liked to play a big match against Felix, but unfortunately, his shoulder was injured. So, I have a big semifinals with a match point, and I thought I had won. I had to come back and fight again.

Emotionally speaking, the week was quite exhausting, but now everything is okay.

Q. We saw each other at Lyon. There weren't many journalists there. What's it like to switch to here and see all the excitement in Roland? Second question: Are you uncertain about the fact that you have five sets already on your legs? Is there not that question mark when we see that you had cramps in the semifinals in Lyon?

ARTHUR FILS: Well, what was it like to see so many people? Not that much. Not that much difference for me. But then I have five sets in the legs. We'll see what it's like tomorrow.

We worked a lot with my coaches to be ready to play those five sets, but then it all depends on your emotion. They were not fatigue cramps, but emotionally speaking, it was quite difficult.

But I hope things will go well for tomorrow.

Q. You've been working with Laurent Raymond for six months. Is it going well?

ARTHUR FILS: Well, he brings me quite a lot, technical, tactical. We speak about everything. So he's a great coach, and I'm delighted to have started training with him. I hope it will last.

Q. You seem quite at ease, quite relaxed. Tomorrow your opponent is Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. How do you comprehend this match? This win in Lyon, has it built your trust? You seem quite serene.

ARTHUR FILS: Yes, I am serene. I look like it, but I'm not.

No, I'm self-confident. He is an excellent player. He has great results. He plays very well. I'll have to really produce a good game to be able to win.

But, yes, I trust in myself, and let's see what happens.

Q. Tomorrow you're playing at the same time as Luca. That's quite funny. We have the impression that your victories are really linked together since the beginning of your careers. Can you talk about that? You win your challenge together. You are playing your first Roland together.

ARTHUR FILS: Yes, it's crazy. We played in the final in Roland, and before that we played in TMC at 10 and 11 years of age. Yes, that goes back quite a ways.

He played very well. This season he has been playing very well. We often joke with each other. When he is challenger in Pau, he made a joke with me, and I did the same thing. It's great to see him progress in this way, and I hope that he will go as far as possible.