The show-stopping Arthur Fils is back and making up for lost time

The sight of Arthur Fils lifting up his shirt after an epic victory was not a new one. It was, after all, the last image tennis had of one of its rising stars while the 21-year-old Frenchman spent eight months recovering from a stress fracture in his lower back, sustained during Roland Garros and that remarkable five-set victory over Jaume Munar in the second round. It was a win, and celebration, that felt as if it had signalled the start of something special. Instead, it placed his ascent on hold.

But at the Miami Open, Fils is determined to make up for lost time. Down four match points to Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals, having struggled with cramp during throughout the third set, Fils won six points in a row to reach his first semi-final at the Masters level.

It wasn’t quite as explosive as his five-set victory over Munar in Paris last May, but it was close; Fils didn’t rip his top off this time, but after plugging his spark into the Miami crowd he did raise his shirt over his head before roaring towards his box. He was back in show-stopping form.

The absence of Fils was felt throughout last season after he was forced to shut his season down. It was a huge disappointment that Fils, then ranked at a career-high 14 in the world, could not attempt to back up his win over Munar and was forced to withdraw from the third round, just as Roland Garros had found a new French hope.

While the dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner was the story of the year, along with Novak Djokovic’s ability to consistently reach the business end of grand slams at the age of 38, the lack of genuine contenders outside of that and the desire to see new ones emerge remained a sub-plot. After injuries to two other young stars, in Jack Draper and Holger Rune, Fils was not the only one finding it tough to watch from the outside.

Like Draper, Fils played it safe by deciding to miss the Australian Open in January. He made his comeback in Montpellier in February before confirming during the Qatar Open that he had started working with Goran Ivanisevic, the former Wimbledon champion and coach of Djokovic for 12 of his grand slam titles. It was a sign of how highly the Frenchman is thought of that Ivanisevic took the opportunity to join the Fils team, following high-profile splits and short-term stints with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Elena Rybakina over the previous year.

Fils reached the final in Doha, perhaps surpassing his own expectations so soon into his comeback, and his lack of matches may have played its part in a 50-minute thrashing to Alcaraz in one of the shortest ATP Tour finals of all time.

Fils could also take some heart from how Alcaraz had played, calling his performance a “joke” in a 6-2 6-1 defeat where the World No 1 lost just seven points in the second set. It may also provide some context to what Fils has started writing on the camera lens after his wins: “GABOS” – or “game ain’t based on sympathy”.

And down four match points against Paul, Fils did not show sympathy. “That’s the mentality,” he said. “It was a dog fight and I never back down from a fight. That’s the best result I’ve had in my life so far.”

He will play Czechia’s Jiri Lehecka, the 21st seed, in the semi-finals on Friday, where one of them will advance to a first Masters final.