Arthur Fils has revealed that the reason for his withdrawal from Roland Garros is due to a stress fracture in his back.
The Frenchman revealed on social media last night that he had to withdraw from his home Grand Slam after his five set thriller against Jaume Munar in the previous round.
During the contest Fils had to have treatment for his back which Munar accused the Frenchman of having cramps.
However, it turns out the Spaniard was wrong in his assumptions as Fils was forced to withdraw from his match with Andrey Rublev.
Speaking in his press conference Fils revealed that he’s been having trouble with his back for a while and detailed what the injury was, “I had some issue with the back since a long time, and during the match against Munar it gets worse,” Fils explained.
“Then I did some exams. The exams were not good at all. Got some stress fracture. Yeah, whatever, we decide with the team it was better to stop now, because if I’m stopping now, I could stop for only four to six weeks. If I was pushing myself too much, I would probably stop for a couple of months. This is not what we are trying to do, so yeah, had to make a choice.
“It was one thing with the team and with the doctor, we said, Okay, whatever, you have some issue before the tournament, but if you want to play, we just have to play without painkiller. I guess we know you can still play.
“During the match against Munar, at the end of the second set, I said, You know what, I’m going to call the doctor and I’m going to take painkiller. But then I understood that the back was not good at all, but because of the crowd, I could make it in the fifth. But yeah, then no chance to play.
“It’s the lower back. I got this issue a couple of times already when I was young. I don’t remember. Yeah, L-5. So yeah, I got some issue like this in the past already.”
It’s a big blow for Fils who had a very good clay court season heading into Roland Garros and would have pushed Jannik Sinner hard in the last 16 should he have progressed.
However, Fils now may miss Wimbledon as a result of this injury as he faces a race to get fit.
Speaking Fils admitted he is pessimistic about playing Wimbledon and said he is not in a rush to be fit given that he is only 20 years of age, “I don’t think I’m going to have to undergo surgery. I don’t think so. It’s a good question, but I don’t think so,” Fils stated about the possibility of having surgery.
“As for the grass season, as I said earlier, I don’t know yet. We’ll see if I can be ready for Wimbledon. I’m not sure. We’ll see. It’s on hold for the moment. It will take time. I’m only 20 years old. I don’t want to be in a hurry on the tour. I don’t need to ramp up everything. I need to be ready for the hard court season, for the end of the year, and this is for the best.”
Fils is currently ranked at 14 in the world and reached the fourth round at last year’s Wimbledon.
