- Home favourite Arthur Fils pulled off a five-set fight back against Jaume Munar
- As he celebrated by flexing his muscles, Fils threw his jersey into the crowd
- Fils will play either Andrey Rublev or Adam Walton in the third round in Paris
A sweaty t-shirt thrown into the stands sparked madness on Court Suzanne-Lenglen in the wake of French No1 Arthur Fils’ second-round clash with Jaume Munar on Thursday afternoon.
Home favourite Fils won his first match at Roland-Garros on Tuesday after first-round defeats in 2023 and 2024, stoking rising excitement around the 20-year-old’s prospects on French soil.
Against Munar, Fils claimed the first two sets via tiebreak in front of an increasingly feverish crowd, before the Frenchman appeared to struggle with injury in the third set.
Munar went on to level the tie against the backdrop of concerns that Fils might be forced to retire.
But the Paris native knuckled down and drew upon his reserves to nab the tie in dramatic fashion, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 0-6, 6-4.
As the crowd roared in support, Fils tore off his shirt to flex his muscles in celebration, before throwing the Lacoste jersey into the stands.
A fight broke out in the stands at Roland-Garros as fans tussled to keep Arthur Fils’ jersey
The 20-year-old Frenchman is a promising prospect on clay and booked his spot in the third round after victory over Jaume Munar
But fans opted not to hold back when presented with the opportunity to keep a piece of him
Fans clamoured for the garment, but rather than accept defeat, one man appeared to cling onto the shirt, wrestling with a number of competitors to keep hold of the garment.
The man eventually almost pulled over the final rival for the jersey before clutching his prize tightly, while fans in nearby seats squabbled over Fils’ towel.
Fils will now wait for the result of 17th-seed Andrey Rublev’s clash with Australia’s Adam Walton to learn his third-round opponent.
During his on-court remarks, Fils admitted that he had used the example of another French tennis star to help get himself over the line in the Parisian sun.
‘In the fifth set, I thought of Gael (Monfils),’ Fils said. ‘He has come back from millions of matches like that.
‘So I thought, “Arthur, this is yours.” You have to do the same. Go for it.
‘I don’t really have a lot of words. It’s thanks to you guys. Even if I was leading two sets to zero… I knew it was very physical. I entered the 2nd set tiebreak not feeling very well.
Fils had tossed the shirt into the crowd after a thrilling five-set fightback after struggling with discomfort mid-match
The world No15 is a popular presence in his home country – where fans can sometimes go too far in their fervent support
‘But I told myself that it’s a 5 set match. Even if you lose the next two sets, there’s always a 5th set. I said that to my box.
‘That I’ll focus on the 5th set and we’ll see what happens. It all went well in the end.’
Veteran Monfils battled back in similar fashion on Tuesday night in five sets against Hugo Dellien, in the process setting the record for the number of five-set comebacks – a titanic 12 – at the French Open.
Monfils’ reward will be a challenging one, however, with the 38-year-old preparing to go toe-to-toe with British No1 Jack Draper on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Thursday evening.
