Arthur Fils edges Andrey Rublev to claim Barcelona Open crown

The Frenchman looked set for an early exit at the hands of Terence Atmane in the first round, but he saved two match and went on to upset second seed Lorenzo Musetti in the quarter-final and then beat Spanish youngster Rafael Jodar in three sets in the semi-finals.

Fils defeated fifth seed Rublev 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) in the showpiece match to win his second ATP 500 title on clay following his 2024 success at the Hamburg Open, while it is his first tournament win following his eight-month injury layoff between May 2025 and February 2026 due to a back injury.

"It was my best match of the week," the ninth seed said after the match. "I lost a couple of games and didn't serve as well as I think I should have, although it wasn't bad."

Fils served for the match at 5-3, but allowed things to slip and he then had three match points on Rublev's serve the following game but again failed to capitalise.

"It was terrible. The end of the second set was just about the mental [pressure]," he admitted. "The whole match was a bit tough because I was a bit tight.

"I played well for a set and a half, but when I had to close, I started to think a little. But I'm very happy with the way I played the tie-break."

Fils peaked at No 14 in the ATP Rankings last year before slipping outside the top 40 following his lengthy absence.

However, he has made his way back up the rankings in recent weeks as he finished runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at the Qatar Open and reached the quarter-final of the Indian Wells Open and semi-final of the Miami Open.

He started the tournament at No 30 and earned 300 points for his title runs as he was defending 200 points from his semi-final run in Barcelona 12 months ago.

The Frenchman earned a five-place jump in the rankings on the back of his success. Rublev, meanwhile, started the tournament at No 15 and he is +3 as he picked up 280 points.

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