Not everything was perfect, but Arthur Fils did the job well enough to earn the right to qualify for the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Madrid. The Frenchman beat the American Emilio Nava in two sets (7-6 (7/2), 6-3). Certainly, this time he did not lose a single round along the way, but he could have made life even easier with a little more consistency during the match.
Put under pressure in the first set which he finally won in the tie break, the French number 1 achieved the first break of the game at the start of the second set, breaking away 3-1. Nava broke him immediately, without consequence since the Frenchman immediately resumed his service and offered himself his seventh consecutive victory.
“I lost concentration at 3-1, it’s a shame but these things happen, afterward I’m quite happy with the way I reacted,” he commented after the match.
Against Etcheverry, “it’s going to be a big match and we’re going to have a lot of fun”
Arriving with full confidence on the clay court of Madrid after his coronation last Sunday in Barcelona (ATP 500) and exempted from the first round due to his rank as top seed, Fils had suffered for his entry into the competition against the Peruvian Ignacio Buse (58th) Friday (6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3), 7-5.
He will face in the round of 16 the Argentinian Tomás Martín Etcheverry (29th), winner of the Croatian Dino Prizmic (87th) on Sunday 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The two future opponents both won their 20th victory of the season, joining Sinner, Alcaraz, Zverev and Medvedev, the only players to have achieved this performance in 2026. “It’s going to be a big match and we’re going to have a lot of fun,” assured the Frenchman at the microphone of the organization.
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