Fils Overcomes Griekspoor to Reach Second Round of Monte-Carlo Tournament

After the debut of several French players, it was now Arthur Fils' turn, the world No. 15, to make his first appearance in the 2025 edition of the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000.

However, the 20-year-old did not have an ideal first-round draw, as he faced Tallon Griekspoor, the runner-up at last weekend’s ATP 250 tournament in Marrakech and ranked 35th in the world.

The Dutchman has had a strong start to the season, including notable wins over Alexander Zverev in Indian Wells and Daniil Medvedev in Dubai, after also dethroning defending champion Ugo Humbert in the same tournament.

Fils, a quarterfinalist in Indian Wells and then in Miami, aimed to build on his solid Sunshine Double performance. The surface change did not unsettle him, despite a shaky start.

The first set was tightly contested. Both players had break opportunities but held firm until the tiebreak. The Frenchman, who let four set points slip, ultimately lost it 7-3.

But Fils showed resilience and character to turn the match around. Facing an opponent who committed a high number of unforced errors (49 in total), Fils, who was never broken, eventually pulled ahead (6-7, 6-4, 6-2 in 2h39).

The Frenchman advances to the second round, where he will face Flavio Cobolli, fresh off his triumph in Bucharest. Cobolli eliminated the 2019 runner-up, Dusan Lajovic, in straight sets (6-4, 6-2) in the first round on Monaco’s clay courts.

This marks Fils’ second victory over Griekspoor in three meetings, a year and a half after defeating the Dutchman at the 2023 US Open.