MADRID/WASHINGTON, April 30, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
Arthur Fils will look back fondly on April as a month in which he became a dominant figure on Spanish clay.
To wit, after winning a 500-series title in Barcelona earlier this month, the 21-year-old Frenchman has reached the semifinals of his second-straight clay-court tournament in Spain. Fils defeated No. 11 seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia, 6-3, 6-4, Wednesday night to advance to the final four at the ATP Masters 1000 Mutua Madrid Open.
The World No. 25 and 21st seed from Bondoufle, France, near Paris, leveraged breaks of the World No. 14 Lehecka’s serve in each set in cruising to his 22nd victory of the season. He needed just 74 minutes to win his quarterfinal match on Manolo Santana Stadium. Fils, who outpointed Lehecka 58-47, hit 10 winners to 17 unforced errors, faced no break points and was two-for-two in break-point conversions. He withstood 13 winners from Lehecka and took advantage of the Czech star’s 28 unforced errors.
🥊🥊@ArthurFils | @atptour | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/bsW9o6nFC3
— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 29, 2026
The victory improved Fils to 9-0 on clay this season and it’s the furthest he’s advanced in Madrid. He’s the first man from France to reach the Madrid Open semifinals since Gilles Simon in 2008. After already securing his return to the ATP Top 20 next week for the first time since last September, Fils is through to his fourth semifinal of the 2026 season following last-four stops in Doha, Miami and Barcelona.
On Friday, Fils will oppose World No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy, who advanced to the semifinals earlier Wednesday over 42nd-ranked Spanish wild card Rafael Jodar, 6-2, 7-6 (0), in one hour and 56 minutes with the roof closed on Manolo Santana Stadium.
Like Fils, Sinner is undefeated (9-0) this year on clay. Since returning to action earlier in February following an eight-month layoff due to a back injury, Fils has won 22 of his 27 matches. Sinner will come into Friday’s semifinals riding high on a 21-match winning streak, which includes consecutive titles won at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo. He’s won 26 straight at the ATP Masters 1000-level dating back to last October.
“I am very happy to be in the semis here, as the last two years, I had never won a match or a set here, so to be in the semis feels very good,” Fils said during his on-court interview. “When it is slow and heavier [conditions] I feel good. I know with my fitness, I can hold for three or four hours in these conditions. I feel very good.”
Totally on fire! 🔥🔥
🇫🇷 @ArthurFils extends his winning streak to 9⃣ matches, defeating Lehecka 6-3 6-4 to reach the #MMOPEN semifinals.@atptour | @ATPTour_ES | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/1kBCon1stG
— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 29, 2026
After stringing together victories against Ignacio Buse, Emilio Nava, Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Lehecka, whom he lost to in the Miami Open semifinals last month, Fils said he looks forward to facing Sinner.
“He is the World No. 1, he is a big champion,” Fils said during his on-court interview. “He won Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo. I am going to try my best and play my best tennis and enjoy myself on the court. It is nice to come on the court as an underdog.”
The smiles says it all 🥳@ArthurFils avenges his semi-final Miami loss by beating Lehecka 6-3 6-4 to reach the last four in Madrid! #MMOpen pic.twitter.com/GN46iRz11o
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 29, 2026
Around the Caja Magica
• The remaining two men’s singles quarterfinals will be contested on Manolo Santana Stadium on Thursday. First up, defending champion and this year’s No. 12 seed Casper Ruud of Norway, ranked World No. 15, will face No. 69 Alexander Blockx of Belgium at 1 p.m. local time. Then, at 8 p.m., World No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany, who is seeded second, will take on World No. 13 Flavio Cobolli of Italy, who is seeded 10th. The winners will meet in Friday’s semifinals.
• All four men’s doubles quarterfinals are scheduled on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium starting from 1 p.m., beginning with No. 5 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia, last year’s finalists, facing No. 3 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain. It will be followed by the other three quarterfinal matches that feature all unseeded teams:
Luke Johnson of Great Britain and Jan Zielinski of Poland will take on French duo Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul. Then, Romain Arneodo and Valentin Vacherot of Monaco oppose Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Manuel Guinard of France. Finally, Andre Goransson of Sweden and Evan King of the United States face Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni of Argentina.
By the numbers
Arthur Fils is the fourth Frenchman in the history of the Mutua Madrid Open to reach the semifinal round. Before him came Sebastian Grosjean and Fabrice Santoro, both in 2002, and Gilles Simon in 2008.
“Quotable …”
“It is a good battle. Sinner and Fils, I think, is a pretty good match-up on clay.”
– Arthur Fils of France, during his on-court interview after defeating Jiri Lehecka, looking ahead to his semifinal match-up with World No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
“I’m going try my best and enjoy myself” 🍿 @ArthurFils previews his enticing semi-final clash against @janniksin #MMOpen pic.twitter.com/xRvPZhEFCn
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 29, 2026
