Hard not to get carried away!

After several months away, Arthur Fils marked his return with a fine victory

I think Fils reassured everyone on several points yesterday. First of all his physical condition, which was the big thing to keep an eye on, but nothing to report: he held on for almost 3 hours without any drop in intensity. He served well, moved well, and showed he still has that mutant arm. For a comeback match I don’t see how he could’ve done better, especially since Royer played a real match on the other side of the net as well. The question now is how he backs it up, that’s often where players coming back struggle. But Arthur is such a physical beast that I’m not super worried.

He now faces Blanchet, the lucky loser who completely shut down Vavassori and took advantage of his status to win that first round. The Frenchman played well on the counter and put together a complete match; not a big surprise given the level he can reach, but indoor still isn’t amazing for him, once again. Vavassori lacked punch and solutions to really hurt him; Fils can put him two meters away from the ball with a single shot. To put it simply, I see Arthur as better in movement, better on serve, and better in offensive phases. I see him clearly above Blanchet, and in my opinion the only “chance” he loses tomorrow is if physically he’s completely spent after so many months without competition.