Ten years after Gael Monfils made his only appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, Arthur Fils is ready to follow in the footsteps of his childhood idol.
Monfils qualified for the 2016 season finale after a career-best year, highlighted by a title in Washington and a run to the US Open semi-finals. Now, a decade later, Fils will end a 10-year wait for French representation in the singles field when he makes his tournament debut in Turin.
After an injury-disrupted 2025, Fils returned to his best this year, capturing his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati and triumphing on clay in Barcelona. The French star arrives in Turin at a career-high No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings, having earned a career-best 39 wins entering the year-end tournament.
As Fils takes his place among the world's best, he is also carrying the inspiration of Monfils, who retired last month after a 22-year career that featured 13 tour-level titles and a career-high No. 6.
Ahead of his opening match in Turin, Fils reflected on the important role Monfils has played as a friend and mentor.
“When I was a kid my idol was Gael,” Fils told ATPTour.com during his pre-tournament press conference on Friday in Turin. “We are very close. He has always helped me a lot about everything on the court and off the court. He is a big brother to me, so he was one of my inspirations.”
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The pair first practised together in 2021, when Fils was just 15. Two years later, as Fils began making his breakthrough on Tour, he paid tribute to Monfils in Shanghai, writing 'Moving Like La Monf' on a camera lens after a first-round victory at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
Now, Fils has the opportunity to make his own mark on the Nitto ATP Finals, following the path once taken by his mentor.
“I am very happy to be here,” Fils said. “It was a dream when I was a kid to be able to play the Finals at the end of the year. We all know it is the best eight players and it is such an honour to be here, next to these guys. It is my first year and I am going to try to enjoy it as much as possible. We have a strong group so I think it will be a lot of fun and a lot of battles.”
Fils is in the John McEnroe Group alongside Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton and Rafael Jodar. The sixth seed begins his campaign against Shelton on Sunday evening in their fourth Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, and first since 2024. Shelton leads their series 2-1.
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