Arthur Fils describes collapse against Tsitsipas as 'unprofessional' as Grand Slam despair prolongs

One of the biggest surprises so far of this US Open has to be Arthur Fils losing in the first round against Stefanos Tsitsipas. The inconsistent Greek rolled back the years as the inform Frenchman was defeated 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-4 in what he described as an 'unprofessional' performance.

Fils came into the event in red-hot form. He had previously won the Cincinnati Open, finally clinching his Masters 1000 title breakthrough, which came after a quarter-final run at the Canadian Open.

He was one of the firm title contenders for many tennis fans and analysts, and for good reason with the 22-year-old looking to buckle this dreadful Grand Slam form and luck in New York after missing out last year due to injury.

Tsitsipas is never an easy draw, but the 10th seed would still be the overwhelming favourite against the former World No.3 who is currently languishing 53rd in the world following an early exit in the Winston-Salem Open.

From the off, Fils looked to have things in control as he broke late to seal the first set. He had the chance to serve it out for the second after leading 5-2 at one point, but that is when Tsitsipas upped the ante. He broke back and won the tiebreak before an utterly dominant third set put him within just a single set of a huge upset win.

After trading breaks at the start, the two-time Grand Slam finalist seized the initiative and backed it up with a commanding hold to lead 4-2. Nothing was going to stop him in his tracks with a hold to love getting the job done.

As expected, Fils was not happy with his display mixed with a touch of frustration and anger with him boasting a sombre mood in his press conference as he explained to the media what had occurred on court.

“Yeah, was a tough match. I got some occasion. Couldn’t make it. But congrats to him,” Fils sportingly said.

“I mean, he played better than me, so he deserve to win. Well, if I had any pressure, I think I would have start the match pretty bad. But I felt okay. I felt relaxed. I start the match okay. Not the best level I ever played, but still pretty solid. You know, I made myself in one very good position. So I think it was no pressure. Just some settings were not the best for me today."

Fils could not really put his finger on what went wrong, leaning towards a sudden dip in energy as he promises to review this performance with is team as he hopes to get to the bottom of it.

“I don’t really know. I don’t have the answer,” Fils stated. “But yeah, once the energy went down at the end of the second, and I never felt again a good energy. I have to talk with my team, but at my level, to do such a mistake is almost unprofessional.”

This North American hardcourt swing has been one of ups and downs. It began with a first round defeat at the DC Open, although Jodar is not the easiest opponent to come up against. He would lose to the Spaniard once more in Montreal before triumphing in Ohio, defeating home favourite Frances Tiafoe to win the biggest title of his career.

This was supposed to set him up for a cracking US Open, but instead the level dropped and he paid the ultimate price. It is a dreadful way to end his latest campaign in North America, a bittersweet period as he tried to describe it.

“Tough question to answer right now, to be honest,” he acknowledged. “Of course pretty happy with the way I play Montreal and Cincy, but very, very, very disappointed with the way I played today. So now I see more dark than pink, but it’s okay.”

Fils has only won just a single match at Grand Slam level in the last six events. The caveat in that being that from Wimbledon 2025 to Roland Garros 2026 he was out through injury, missing the first three thanks to a lengthy back injury that ended his 2025 campaign before a problem aggravated at the Rome Open cost him the chance to compete on home soil.

His straight sets win over Raphael Collignon was his first major win in over a year, but it was immediately followed with a defeat against former finalist Matteo Berrettini. This latest setback on the biggest stage of them all again reveals the stark comparison between his Grand Slam results and his performances at Masters 1000 and ATP 500 level.

His best run in a Grand Slam was the last-16 at Wimbledon in 2024 with a brace of third round runs at the start of 2025 as good as it has got. Fils is still very young and it is surely imminent that he will transfer his form away from the major competitions to one of them sometime in the future. Moving away from that, he can now start to focus on competing in the Asian swing with there many big tournaments to compete in, culminated by the Paris Masters and possibly a debut campaign at the ATP Finals.