Arthur Fils was no match for Carlos Alcaraz in the Qatar Open final and the Frenchman conceded that the world No 1 is currently “on another level”.
After peaking at No 14 in the ATP Rankings in April 2025, Fils suffered a serious back injury at the French Open and was forced to spend several months on the sidelines before attempting a comeback at the Canadian Open in August.
He played two matches, but was then forced to withdraw from the US Open and missed the rest of the 2025 campaign and the start of 2026 as he pulled out of the Australian Open.
The rising French star finally made his comeback at the start of February and reached the quarter-final in Montpellier before making a first-round exit from the Rotterdam Open as he lost against top seed and eventual champion Alex de Minaur.
But it all clicked for him in Doha as he upset eighth seed Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-final and sixth seed Jakub Mensik, who stunned world No 2 Jannik Sinner in the last eight, in the semi-final to set up a clash against Alcaraz.
Unfortunately, the seven-time Grand Slam winner was in a class of his own as he needed only 50 minutes to win 6-2, 6-1 and extend his unbeaten run against Fils to 3-0.
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Some will say there is no shame in losing in that manner against Alcaraz, who is yet to lose a match in 2026, as he won the Australian Open.
“I played worse than I had been playing this week. But he is the number one, he hasn’t lost a match since the start of the year, you can see why,” Fils said. Right now, he is on another level, and I am not there yet, not at all there.”
“I will have to work, but right now, I am not at that level. He plays very, very well, and I have nothing to say.”
Alcaraz and Sinner have dominated men’s tennis the past two years and Fils – who is projected to rise seven places to No 33 in the rankings after his run to the final – explained what sets them apart from the chasing pack.
“It goes very fast, from the beginning putting a lot of pressure, playing well, it was quite challenging,” he explained. “We will have to watch the match and analyze how it unfolded.”
But there were some comforting words from Alcaraz as even he acknowledged that he was zoned in from the word go in Doha.
“Today I played great. I was focused on maintaining that throughout the match, playing very well from the start,” he said. “The finals are where you need to show your best level.
“Obviously, Arthur didn’t start the match so well, making many mistakes. That gave me the confidence to play relaxed and calm. He allowed me to control the match, every point, always in a good position.
“I played very solid, aggressive whenever I could, also making passing shots. It was a mix of several things. Arthur returned to play just four months ago, only having played a couple of tournaments, reaching the final here after defeating very good players; I am sure he will regain the level to reach the top again.”