At 18, Fils was the youngest player in the draw for whom he had received an invitation. He will rise to the doors of the top 60 in the world.

"There is always a before and after a first title. I'm happy and I'm going to celebrate with my loved ones, but not too much because I have +Roland+ next week. It will remain for all my life in a corner of my head, that's for sure, "commented the Francilien.

Guest at Roland-Garros

Recipient of an invitation to the France International, he will face for the first match of his career in Grand Slam, the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich.

"A good first round to play against a very good player. I'll see what happens and hopefully it's on a big court with a lot of crowds. I want to enjoy," he said saying he wanted to return to Lyon where he lived a strange week.

Winner in the first round of a qualifier, the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang 6-3, 6-2, he eliminated the Swede Mikael Ymer, disqualified while the Francilien led 6-5 in the first set, for having smashed his racket on the chair of the referee.

He then benefited from the forfeit of Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, No. 1 seed and No. 10 in the world in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals.

In Friday's semifinals, he defeated American Brandon Nakashima, the world's No. 52 player and No. 8 seed, in three sets 7-5 4-6 7-6 (5) after showing great mental strength and overcoming cramps.

"It wasn't that easy. It was a crazy match, with a contentious match ball before getting me caught up in a decisive game of the third set that I managed well. Today I played a good final. I'm happy with my level of play this week and we have to surf on this confidence with the bonus of entering the top 100," said Fils.

250th in the world at the beginning of 2023

"Since the beginning of the year it has been going fast. I was 250th. I went on a Challenger in Oeiras, Portugal (which he won)," he recalled. "I'm happy but we must not stop. I manage it very well, I do not put pressure, "he insisted.

During the final, he faced a nervous and often annoyed opponent at his clan.

"Seeing your opponent get upset helps us a little bit. We tell ourselves that we are not far from cracking it. The goal is for him to get angry and not me. Today I was also annoyed but I don't know if he saw it," he said.

"We both started quite tense. We were making mistakes. Having a set lead in the final is good. I had two breaks in the second and each time I was taken back. We were a little tense at the end but the public helped me well and that's a little what made the difference, "added Arthur Son who was also able to recover well after his semi-final that he had finished tested.

© 2023 AFP