Arthur Fils marked his comeback to the ATP Tour with a hard-fought three-set victory over Valentin Royer on Tuesday at the Open Occitanie Montpellier. The 21-year-old Frenchman, sidelined for six months by a back injury, saved a set point and dominated the decider to secure his 50th hard-court win. Other notable results included an upset by qualifier Martin Damm over seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz and a straight-sets win for fifth seed Ugo Humbert.
The Open Occitanie Montpellier, an ATP 250 indoor hard-court event held the week after the Australian Open, delivered compelling action on Day 2. Seeded sixth and ranked No. 42, Fils overcame world No. 56 Royer 7-6(7), 6-7(4), 6-2 in a match lasting over two and a half hours at the Sud de France Arena. Returning from a stress fracture that sidelined him since August 2025, Fils expressed relief post-match: "I feel a lot of joy and happiness. I am back, so that means all the signals are green, both mentally and physically." He added, "It was a tough match. He is a great opponent and he put me under pressure... I am enjoying this. It has been a long time."
Fils, who reached the semi-finals in Montpellier in 2023, will next face Ugo Blanchet in the round of 16. Blanchet advanced by defeating qualifier Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 6-3. Earlier, fifth-seeded Humbert extended his strong indoor form in France, beating Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4 to improve to 5-0 in their head-to-head. Humbert has won 19 of his past 20 matches indoors in the country, including titles in Metz and Marseille.
Qualifier Martin Damm, ranked No. 160, pulled off a surprise by defeating seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets over 93 minutes, marking his third Top 100 win. Damm will meet Roberto Bautista Agut next. Pablo Carreno Busta came back from a set down to beat Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), while French qualifier Titouan Droguet downed Jan Choinski 6-2, 7-6(2). These results set up intriguing round-of-16 matchups, including Humbert against Adrian Mannarino.
