Arthur Fils came back to Wimbledon and took his first-round match from Raphaël Collignon 7-5, 6-1, 6-3. It was his first match after a month and a half away, and it put the No. 20 seed into the second round with the same control he showed once the match opened up.
Arthur Fils on Centre Court
That return had a clear marker: Fils was on Centre Court on Thursday against Matteo Berrettini, with his opening-round result already in the book from Tuesday. The straight-sets win gave him a clean start on a day when several French players were trying to move through the draw.
The scoreline did more than show a routine advance. After a tight first set at 7-5, he pulled away 6-1 and 6-3, which turned the match into a quick reset rather than a long comeback test. For a player coming off a month and a half away, that kind of finish is the most practical sign that the rhythm returned fast enough.
Raphaël Collignon and the first set
Collignon was still in position early, but once Fils took the opening set, the rest moved in one direction. The second set went 6-1, and the third closed 6-3, leaving no extra set or rescue chance for the opponent.
The broader French picture on Thursday was mixed. Léolia Jeanjean lost to Daria Snigur 4-6, 3-6, and Adrian Mannarino fell to Alex De Minaur 3-6, 2-6, 2-6. Quentin Halys was still on court against Marcos Giron, Valentin Royer was still playing Alexander Zverev, and Kyrian Jacquet was scheduled for Alexander Bublik no earlier than 19h15.
Wimbledon's French ledger
Iga Swiatek was also part of the day’s action, beating Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-3 after being pushed to three sets by Taylor Townsend in the first round. She was due to face Alexandra Eala or Maya Joint next, while Fils had already done the more immediate job: stop the layoff from spilling into his return.
That is the useful read on Fils now. The month and a half away did not show up in the first-round score, and the next task is whether he can carry that level while the draw gets harder on Centre Court.
