French youngster Arthur Fils continued his comeback run after a long injury break, defeating Russia’s Andrey Rublev 6-2, 7-6(2) to lift the Barcelona Open 2026 title on Sunday, April 19. The victory marks his first trophy since 2024. After being sidelined for eight months due to a lower-back stress fracture, Fils made his return earlier this year in February and has steadily built momentum. He reached the final of the Qatar Open and followed it up with a semi-final finish at the Miami Open. Now, with this win, he secures his fourth ATP title overall and third on clay, just weeks ahead of the French Open.Â
“It’s been a tough (few) months, struggling with the injury… but we’re back on the court and win the trophy, so pretty happy about that,” Fils said at the trophy presentation ceremony.
In the first game, he missed the baseline with a couple of shots, handing Rublev a break. But Fils dug deep to get even, breaking back in the fourth game to make it 2-2.
Fils is BACK in the big time 💪@ArthurFils captures his maiden Barcelona trophy and first title since Tokyo 2024@bcnopenbs | #BCNOpenBS pic.twitter.com/OC1nbEseIH
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 19, 2026
Rublev struggled to keep up as Fils, now more precise with his forehand returns, picked out the edges of the sideline and sent powerful returns past the frustrated fifth seed to win the first set in 31 minutes.
Fils won seven games straight before world number 15 Rublev managed to hold his own serve to make it 1-1 in the second set. The 28-year-old fended off seven break points to prevail in a 13-minute battle to stay even at 2-2.
The 21-year-old outwitted Rublev with a backhand drop shot to get a break and go 4-2 up. But when Fils was 5-3 up serving for the tournament, the world number 30 made three straight errors to hand Rublev a break.
Rublev then saved three match points to hold his serve and make it 5-5, and broke Fils to go 6-5 up. But Fils broke back in the very next game to force a tiebreak, which he won 7-2.
“The way you are playing, it’s ridiculous… you proved that you’re one of the best players on the Tour,” Rublev told Fils.
(With Inputs From Reuters)Â
