Fils reaches first Barcelona final with century milestone on the way
Arthur Fils (No 9 seed) beat Rafael Jodar 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Fils reaches his first Barcelona final and records his 100th tour-level win.
Arthur Fils, Barcelona 2026 | © Imago / PsNewz
Arthur Fils, the No 9 seed, came from a set down to beat Spanish wild card Rafael Jodar 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday and reach the final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell for the first time, sealing his 100th tour-level victory in the process.
“It was a difficult match against a great opponent,” Fils said. “That kid is going to become very, very good. He was beating me for speed for a set and a half, hitting the ball incredibly hard.”
The 21-year-old Frenchman, ranked No 30, was outplayed for a set and a half as the teenage Jodar – on an eight-match winning streak and playing with the Barcelona crowd behind him – imposed a pace and intensity that unsettled the Frenchman from the first ball. Fils regrouped in the second, changed his tactical approach and closed out the match with authority, winning ten of the last twelve games.
Fils : “he is going to be a pain in the a***”
“I started the match thinking he might make some errors but in the end he was hitting very well and making me miss, so I had to change my tactics in the middle of the second set”, Fils added. “I started moving him around more, using my forehand down the line, my backhand down the line. I think that was the key. That’s what allowed me to turn the second set around. In the third I got ahead and felt better and better.”
“On the TV, I don’t think you can see how hard he is hitting,” Fils added. “The ball is flying and coming very fast. It took me one set to get used to his quality, and then after I felt better and I finished very strong. But he is going to be a pain in the a*** to play.”
Fils also drew on the resilience he had shown earlier in the week: “I had to save two match points in my first round against Atmane. So when I lose just a set, it’s not the end of the world.”
Final : Fils – Rublev
The win was his 15th in 18 matches since returning from eight months out with a back injury. It is his second final of 2026 – he lost the Doha title match to Carlos Alcaraz in February – and his deepest run in Barcelona, having lost the semi-final to Alcaraz here a year ago.
He will face Andrey Rublev, the No 5 seed, in Sunday’s final. The pair are level at 1-1 in their head-to-head, with Fils having won their only clay-court meeting at Monte-Carlo last year.
Jodar’s defeat ended one of the tournament’s most compelling stories. The 19-year-old Spaniard had won eight consecutive matches, including the Marrakech title, and had not dropped a set all week in Barcelona, beating Jaume Munar, Camilo Ugo Carabelli and Cameron Norrie before coming within a set of the final.
