The comeback!!

After multiple postponements and an injury that turned out to be much more serious than initially thought, Fils is finally back on the tennis courts!

No big ambitions for Arthur in this tournament, he’s mainly looking to regain confidence and I sincerely hope his body holds up. Hard to take a position from a betting standpoint, it’s a long absence and we really have no idea what shape Arthur will be in when he shows up. What “worries” me is that he’s postponed his comeback several times—either he really wants to take zero risks but hasn’t felt pain for weeks already, or he was still limited recently, impossible to say. On the other hand, like all tennis players, once he’s on court he’ll only be thinking about winning. He can play well anywhere, and the trend is that returning players often win their first match before losing in R2 because the pace is too hard to sustain over two or three matches.

For his return he’s facing Royer. The Frenchman is trying to confirm last year’s progress and is aiming for a challenger/main tour transition this season. For now it hasn’t really clicked BUT in his defense he’s had three shitty draws. He’s not even playing bad matches, he’s just missing that little extra something to turn things his way. Maybe this return to indoor conditions will be enough for him to finally win a match.

With his aggressiveness and attacking mindset he isn’t going to let Arthur play too much, which is exactly what’s needed, and Fils will immediately be tested in his movement.