Son aims high: "My goal is not to be the number one French"

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Arthur Fils is the player of the moment in France and one of the most sought-after in current tennis. The Frenchman is showing a high level of tennis in this 2025. He has reached the quarterfinals in Indian Wells, as well as in Miami and Monte Carlo. In Barcelona, he is also in this round and will try to break through against Stefanos Tsitsipas or Sebastian Korda.

Arthur Fils is experiencing a great period, as he is now the number one Frenchman after dethroning Ugo Humbert. Ranked at the position, he is becoming very dangerous for any opponent he faces, as he already defeated Alexander Zverev in this 2025 and gave Carlos Alcaraz a tough time in the Monte Carlo Masters. In ATP Barcelona, he is poised to win the tournament or at least achieve a great result. After defeating Pedro Martínez 6-3 6-2, the Frenchman left the press conference very pleased.

- Objective on the clay court swing

"My goal is not just Roland Garros. I want to play well everywhere, like in Madrid or Rome. If I can perform well at Roland Garros, even better. I'm just trying to work very hard on the court and then give my best during the matches."

"Now I play many more matches each week, so I know how to handle more pressure situations. Last year I was playing well, but I had some difficulties with mentality, attitude, behavior on the court. Now it's much better. So yes, I think it has changed a lot from last year, no doubt."

- Fils prefers not to play on the central court at Godó

Arthur has experienced great moments on the Andrés Gimeno court, like the victories against Daniel Altamier and Alex De Miñaur last year, or against Pablo Carreño in this edition. He knows he will play less and less outside the center court, but he explains his preference: "I prefer the smaller courts, but only because of the crowd. The crowd is very close, and a good atmosphere is created. On the center court, it is very large, and that changes the perception and atmosphere a bit. But in the end, the final is never played on court 1, it's always played on the center, so you have to adapt."

- Number one in France and country with the most players in the top 100, but none in the top 10

"You know, the top 10 is very... very tough, very demanding. I think Humbert was quite close. We had many great players in the past, many were in the top 10 and competed for the most important titles. In the last two or three years, it's been a bit harder, but I think we are coming back. There's Humbert playing incredibly, Perricard playing great... And I'm trying to find a way to climb the rankings, and I think it's going well. But you know, I still have ten years ahead, so I'm not in a hurry. All calm."

"Being the number one Frenchman doesn't give me more pressure or more joy. In France, I am asked a lot, but I always say that being the number one Frenchman is not my goal. If I am the number two in France but in the top 10 in the world, that's perfect, I don't mind. My goal is just to climb higher in the rankings. Being number one in France and number ten in the world doesn't make much difference to me."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Fils apunta alto: "Mi objetivo no es ser el número uno francés"