Fils on his rise to World No. 7: “Only six guys ahead of me, that’s not bad”
The 22-year-old Frenchman will rise to a career-high No. 7 on Monday with 3,525 points, matching Richard Gasquet’s best ranking, the day he confirmed he will play the Rolex Paris Masters.
Arthur Fils, Vienna 2026 | © David Emm/Psnewz
Arthur Fils will move up to a career-high No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday, with 3,525 points. Only Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev and Flavio Cobolli will be ahead of him. The Frenchman, currently No. 8, will match the best ranking of Richard Gasquet, reached in 2007. Alex de Minaur, who plays the Vienna final against Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday, can climb no higher than No. 8.
Asked by radio reporters on Sunday about matching Gasquet, Fils welcomed the comparison. Being compared to “Richie” is “very, very positive,” he said, describing Gasquet as one of the great champions, with “an immense career.”
“When you look at it, you tell yourself: OK, there are only six guys ahead of me in the rankings,” he said. “When you wake up in the morning, I think that’s not bad. After that, I always try to go higher.”
The news comes on the day Fils confirmed he will play the Rolex Paris Masters, two days after retiring in Basel with a muscle problem in his left leg. Seeded sixth, the 22-year-old will open in the second round against wildcard Kyrian Jacquet or a qualifier. He is also seventh in the Race to Turin, in contention for his first appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals.
Tournament director Cédric Pioline had hailed the feat on Friday. Being in a position to qualify for Turin with “two Grand Slams missed and poor results in the others, so very few points where the most points are handed out” is “quite exceptional,” he said. “He is very young, he is 22, we will see him for many years. I hope that over the coming decade he will put his name on the honours list, and if it can be as early as 2026, we would be delighted for him.”
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