Arthur Fils left an impression at the French Open after winning a five-set match against Jaume Munar on Thursday. It is the first time he has reached the third round of Roland Garros in his career.

Fils won 7-6 7-6 2-6 0-6 6-4 against Spanish tennis player Jaume Munar. The match spanned over five sets and lasted nearly four and a half hours. During the third set, Fils sustained a back injury, which hampered his progress, according to ATP Tour. He still managed to push through and win the match.

Fils is now the highest-ranked French tennis player competing in Roland Garros

It is the first time in his career that he has been the highest-ranked French player at the Open. Next, the 20-year-old will either play against Andrey Rublev or Australia’s Adam Walton in the third round. He may also compete against Jannik Sinner, who is World No 1, in the fourth round.

Arthur Fils said he was inspired by French tennis legend Gael Montfils

Fils said he found the strength to keep going during the match thanks to Gael Montfils.

“I was in the five set and I was thinking of Gael,” he said, according to The Independent. “Gael had to turn around a lot of matches in five sets. So I thought, Arthur, this is yours. You have to do the same. Go for it.”

“I don’t really have a lot of words. It’s thanks to you guys. Even if I was leading two sets to zero… I knew it was very physical. I entered the 2nd set tiebreak not feeling very well,” Fils added. “But I told myself that it’s a 5 set match. Even if you lose the next two sets, there’s always a 5th set. I said that to my box. That I’ll focus on the 5th set and we’ll see what happens. It all went well in the end.” 

French OpenTennis