Arthur Fils left the ATP in Montreal with another defeat against Rafa Jódar, the second consecutive loss in just a week and a half. The Frenchman once again hit a wall, and although this time he felt better physically compared to Washington, tennis-wise, Rafa was tremendously superior.
Fils himself highlighted this at the end of the match in words reported by the French media L’Equipe. The Frenchman, far from being demotivated by losing to a guy a couple of years younger than him, has found in Jódar the motivation to work harder and reach the moment when matches like last night’s start to go in his favor.
Fils surrenders to Jódar
«It was a complicated match. He is a very good player. Rafa played very, very well. I had a bit of trouble entering the match. Perhaps I lacked a little push in the tiebreak. After that, honestly, all the credit goes to him because I didn’t make it easy. He reacted very well and was able to counter me in practically all aspects of the game.
I need to get back to training. Good players like him make you want to play many matches. I hope we meet again. In fact, I’m sure we will. We are going to play many times over the next ten years.
Logically, I feel a bit of frustration because I wanted to do better. I would have liked to win the first set, and I didn’t succeed. I would have liked to get a break early in the second set, and I couldn’t either.»
First Masters 1000 semi-finalist born in 2006 👶🏻
Jodar enters the biggest SF of his career, as he eliminates Fils 7-6(5) 6-3!#NBO26 pic.twitter.com/bVeJJ5RjjQ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 11, 2026
Rain delay
«I had the feeling that I had the momentum at the time of the interruption. Above all, the conditions were very different when we returned to the court. Before the rain, everything was quite slow and very humid. After, with the return of the sun, the court was faster. But with the ‘what ifs…’ you can remake the entire world.»
Feelings after a good tournament in Montreal
«I competed again in Washington. Here I reached the quarter-finals playing some good matches. Against Navone and Norrie, I played well. Even against Jodar, it was a good match. There is frustration and disappointment, but we have to focus on the positives. I’m happy to have reached the quarter-finals again. I have to try to win these kinds of tournaments. I’ve already done it in 250, in 500… Now the goal is to go higher.»
Surrendered to the new generation coming up
«We are going to have a very good generation with Shelton, Mensik, Fonseca, or Jódar. And I include myself. It will be very nice to see. Alcaraz and Sinner are very established. There will come a time when there will be more and more young players; that’s the logic. There are still experienced players like Medvedev or Zverev, and others, but it’s nice to see young players fighting and trying to win big tournaments like Montreal.»
Fils, who continues to deal with back problems that bother him from time to time and prevent him from performing at 100%, is still making strides forward and seeks to return to the Top 20 little by little. He has the potential to be Top 10 and aim for many great things in tennis. Perhaps, seeing himself currently inferior to Jódar motivates him to rise and use that as motivation for his definitive breakthrough as a tennis player.
In Cincinnati, without Sinner or Alcaraz, Fils is one of the players who could take advantage of the opportunity that many players have, just as it happened in Cincinnati. Under the guidance of Goran Ivanisevic, the Frenchman has raised his level and now presents himself as an alternative to the top players, as long as his back allows it.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Fils piropea a Jódar: «Es muy bueno»