Arthur Fils has spoken after he was forced to retire due to an injury early in his opening match at the 2026 Italian Open. The world No 17 retired when trailing 0-4 in the first set of his second round match against 155th-ranked Italian qualifier Andrea Pellegrino on Saturday night in Rome.
He left the court to receive treatment from the physio at 0-3, but his condition did not improve. The French star was playing his first match since a straight-set defeat to Jannik Sinner in the Madrid Open semi-finals eight days earlier.
Fils returned to the ATP Tour in February after not having competed for six months due to a stress fracture in his back. The 21-year-old has been outstanding since his comeback, winning 22 of his 28 matches in 2026 prior to Rome.
He won the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona last month, and he was also a runner-up in Doha, a semi-finalist in Miami and a quarter-finalist in Indian Wells. Speaking to French newspaper L’Equipe after his retirement at the Foro Italico, Fils revealed that the injury was not a recurrence of his back issue.
“I felt a pain in my hip during the second game,” Fils explained. ATP Tour News Arthur Fils explains how Novak Djokovic has helped him challenge Jannik Sinner Novak Djokovic under injury cloud ahead of French Open after latest cryptic comments Want more from Tennis365?
Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust. “I tried everything during the match.
I called the physio to try and treat it, but it didn’t work. “Unfortunately, I had to stop a little while later.
These things happen. I’m going to get treatment, I’m going to talk with the team, we’ll make some decisions.
“I just shouldn’t have taken any risks before Roland Garros. There’s no other information I can give you.” The timing of Fils’ injury is a concern as it comes just two weeks before the French Open gets underway on Sunday 24 May.
The Frenchman has been touted as a potential dark horse at his home Grand Slam as he is arguably one of the few players capable of threatening world No 1 Sinner in the absence of Carlos Alcaraz. Fils was forced to withdraw before his third round match at last year’s French Open due to his back injury.
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