Honesty is the best policy when conducting an on-court interview, and Arthur Fils certainly kept it real when asked to assess his first-round performance at the 2025 Australian Open.
“I was playing like shit, sorry!” confessed the No. 20 seed after rallying from a set down to defeat Otto Virtanen, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4. “It was really tough.
“But I don’t know, I was just trying to put the ball inside the court—you know, inside the blue,” he added, earning more laughs from the Margaret Court Arena crowd. “And then I just tried to run. I’m really happy about the way I did it.”
The talented 20-year-old is coming off a breakthrough 2024 season, one that saw him make his Top 20 debut and win a pair of ATP 500 titles. But Fils is still searching for a signature run at a Grand Slam tournament, having made just one major second week last year: a fourth round at Wimbledon.
