Tennis star with Federer dream is ‘detaching’ from Alcaraz comparisons

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Arthur Fils has become the latest teenager tennis player to experience a breakout this week in Montpellier. The 18-year-old is playing just his second ATP Tour event as a wildcard and is now through to the quarter-final after recording his first tour-level victory before backing it up with a win over fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut. Fils has now set his sights on winning multiple Grand Slams like idol Roger Federer but explained why he didn’t compare himself to other teenage stars including Carlos Alcaraz.

Fils is enjoying the best week of his young career, having received a wildcard into one of his home tournaments at the Open Sud de France, an ATP 250 event. The world No 163 recorded his first-ever match win on the pro tour over Richard Gasquet in the first round and backed it up sensationally by downing world No 24 Bautista Agut in straight sets.

The 18-year-old is now through to the quarter-finals to face another Frenchman in Quentin Halys and with his run, has become the first man born in 2004 to reach the last four of a tournament on the ATP Tour. In the midst of his breakout week, Fils has now explained why he chooses to remain “detached” from fellow teens Alcaraz and Holger Rune following their recent success.

“I try to detach myself from it,” he told Tennis Majors, speaking about his 2003-born colleagues. “When I see Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, all these guys, winning Grand Slams, making finals, I say to myself that Top 150 is good but it’s not the biggest thing at the moment.”

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But Fils is still using the two men as something of an inspiration after Alcaraz won five titles including a Grand Slam last season, becoming the youngest-ever ATP No 1 as a result while Rune beat five top 10 players in one week to win the Paris Masters. He added: “When you see Carlos winning the US Open playing great, you think you can do the same, you try to do the same and they are examples, you try to make the best of it. It’s a source of motivation.”

And the French teenager has another main idol he looks to for inspiration despite being more than double his age – Roger Federer. The 41-year-old retired last September before Fils could even make his ATP Tour debut as a qualifier at the Paris Masters but the 18-year-old has also discovered a newfound appreciation for Rafael Nadal and hopes to become a multi-Grand Slam champion like the two tennis icons.

“My idol was Federer but when you’re older, you enjoy watching Nadal play more and more, his mentality, his way of fighting,” Fils admitted, explaining why he had more respect for Nadal the older he got. “These are players who have 22 Grand Slams. I’ll try to do the same to at least try to win one, two or three, they are examples.”

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While he knows that winning Grand Slams may still be a little too far in the future, the world No 163 was already eyeing a spot in the top 10 as early as this year. “Don’t be afraid of anyone, that’s the way my parents raised me,” he explained.

“I don’t put any limits on myself (in terms of ranking), I play well, I progress, the ranking follows, if I can go Top 10 at the end of the year, I will go Top 10 at the end of the year.”

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