2026 Schedule Update | Arthur Fils set to skip France's Davis Cup qualifier for Open Occitanie as return date draws closer

French tennis fans will be over the moon to hear that Arthur Fils is closing on a return to action after a back injury kept him out of a large chunk of 2025. However, on his return he will be prioritising his career over representing his country as he sets his sights on the Open Occitanie, commencing February 1-8.

It has been an arduous second half of 2025 for the talented Frenchman who was making incredible progress up the ATP rankings with some eye-catching performances. Injuries would be the main talking point, and would begin after his retirement in the Australian Open against fellow countryman Ugo Humbert. He returned to help his country in the Davis Cup qualifiers against Brazil, comfortably defeating Thiago Seyboth Wild as France progressed with ease.

His first performance which caught the attention was a quarter-final appearance at the Indian Wells Open, eventually losing to Daniil Medvedev in three sets. He backed this up with another last-eight appearance in the Mami Open, facing Jakub Mensik. The duo had competed as recently as the ATP Next Gen Finals, with Fils a commanding winner. The fortunes were turned around this time as Mensik stormed to victory enroute to an unexpected title charge.

His positive form would continue onto clay. It may have been more fruitful if he was not drawn up against Carlos Alcaraz twice on the bounce. First came the Monte-Carlo Masters. He took the first set before the Spaniard levelled upin a closely fought battle. Fils would then be pegged back in the third set for a third consecutive Masters 1000 quarter-final exit. He made it one step further in the Barcelona Open but was no match for the home-hero. His form then took a dip heading to the French Open, where after a determined five-set victory over Jaume Munar, he withdrew from his matchup against Andrey Rublev due to back problems. He attempted a return at the start of the North American hardcourt swing but a failed comeback at the Canadian Open spelt the end to his 2025 campaign.

After reaching a career-high of 14th in the world, Fils is now languishing down in 40th. The 21-year-old is looking to get back to the form he had showcased, and there is no better place to do so than the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year. It is yet to be seen if he will be fit enough to compete. The signs look good with Fils back on the court, confirmed in an Instagram video of him rallying in Kuwait.

After that, he will be making a return to action in his native France at the Open Occitanie. The formerly called Montpellier Open will begin just after the conclusion to the event in Melbourne as Fils looks to get in the hours on court to boost his ranking back up. He will be hoping for a similar performance to his last feature back in 2023 where he made it all the way to the semi-final stage. His participation was confirmed on Instagram by the Open Occitanie account.

The result of this means that he will not be in Pas-de-Calais to play the 2026 Davis Cup qualifier against Slovakia from February 7-8. While it is a big blow for France, they can still boast a strong lineup. Corentin Moutet and Arthur Rinderknech were on hand to represent France in the Davis Cup Finals back in November, losing out to Belgium in the quarter-final stage in Bologna.

It seems like a sensible decision for Fils to focus on his career first. The 250 event could be the foundation he needs to get back up to scratch.