The sight of Arthur Fils lifting up his shirt after an epic victory was not a new one. It was, after all, the last image tennis had of one of its rising stars while the 21-year-old Frenchman spent eight months recovering from a stress fracture in his lower back, sustained during Roland Garros and that remarkable five-set victory over Jaume Munar in the second round. It was a win, and celebration, that felt as if it had signalled the start of something special. Instead, it placed his ascent on hold.
But at the Miami Open, Fils is determined to make up for lost time. Down four match points to Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals, having struggled with cramp during throughout the third set, Fils won six points in a row to reach his first semi-final at the Masters level.
