Son recalls his abandonment by Humbert: "Once the pain comes, it doesn't go away".

Adrien Guyot

le 17/01/2025 à 15h46

2 min to read

Fils Humbert Open d'Australie

The 100% French battle in the third round of the Australian Open did not have the expected outcome.

While Arthur Fils and Ugo Humbert were in the fourth set of their match, the former was forced to withdraw due to a foot injury.

It was the 20-year-old's fourth defeat in five matches against Humbert. Fils spoke to FIFA.com about his withdrawal.

"Against Quentin Halys, I hurt my ankle. And we decided to strap it to keep it in place. The problem is that I've always had a problem with straps. We made a strap that tightened me up a bit too much.

The more the match went on, the more my foot hurt. A nerve was compressed or the fifth meta... I don't know exactly.

The longer it went on, the less I could put my foot on the ground. In the end, I couldn't walk or move. There was no point in going on.

The first set was fine. But it was just a matter of time. Halfway through the second, I started to feel my foot.

I said to myself: 'In two games, I'm going to change shoes and see what happens'. I changed shoes, then we took off the strap...

We did a lot of things. I called the physio to manipulate the foot a bit. But once the pain comes, it doesn't go away.

It started in the middle of the second. The longer it goes on, the worse it gets. In the middle of the third, I don't know exactly when, I just stopped moving.

And at the start of the fourth, when I had to get up from the bench, I couldn't," Fils lamented to L'Équipe.