Frenchman Arthur Fils continued his strong run of form since returning from an eight-month injury lay-off, beating Russia’s higher-ranked Andrey Rublev 6-2, 7-6(2) to win the Barcelona Open and claim his first title since 2024.

Fils, who suffered a lower-back stress fracture last year, returned in February and reached the final of the Qatar Open and the semifinal of the Miami Open. He secured his fourth ATP title on Sunday, and his third on clay, with the French Open a month away.

“It’s been a tough few months, struggling with the injury, but we’re back on court and winning the trophy, so I’m pretty happy about that,” Fils said at the presentation ceremony.

Fils dropped serve in the opening game after missing the baseline with a couple of shots, but he responded quickly, breaking back in the fourth game to level at 2-2.

Rublev struggled to match Fils thereafter, as the Frenchman sharpened his forehand returns, consistently finding the lines and pushing the fifth seed onto the back foot to take the first set in 31 minutes.

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Fils won seven consecutive games before Rublev managed to hold serve early in the second set. The 28-year-old then saved seven break points in a prolonged game to stay level at 2-2.

The 21-year-old Fils broke again with a clever backhand drop shot to move 4-2 ahead. However, serving for the match at 5-3, he made three successive errors to allow Rublev back into the contest.

Rublev saved three match points to hold serve for 5-5 and then broke Fils to lead 6-5. But Fils responded immediately, breaking back to force a tie-break, which he won comfortably 7-2.

“The way you are playing, it’s ridiculous. You’ve proved that you’re one of the best players on the Tour,” Rublev said.

Published on Apr 19, 2026