The conclusion of the Australian Open has seen tour action resume in the form of the Open Occitanie in Montpellier. The ATP 250-series tournament is a lone event above Challenger level this week as many players take a rest week following five-set tennis ahead of a busy schedule.

Defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime is joined by a decently stacked field including Flavio Cobolli, Thomas Machac, Stan Wawrinka as well as an expected array of home talent.

Arguably the most exciting name to feature this week is Arthur Fils, who made his return to the tour for the first time since August 2025 after recovering from a lower-back injury.

Fils withdrew from his third round match with Andrey Rublev during Roland Garros last year and had a two-month layoff period before a brief return in Toronto. He managed a straight-sets win over Pablo Carreno-Busta before falling in three sets to Jiri Lehecka.

The lower-back bone stress fracture effectively cut Fils’ season early, with him missing the rest of the year to allow for a full recovery and not risk a further aggravation.

Tuesday 3rd February marked the return for the 21-year-old, who entered Montpellier as sixth seed, despite his inactivity for six months.

A first round test against fellow countryman, Valentin Royer, would provide some much-needed competitive action for Fils.

24-year-old Royer is an opponent on the rise, currently at his highest ranking of World No. 56 on tour, although he’s been struggling to convert success on the Challenger tour to the main tour as he arrived in Montpellier on a six-match loss run.

Early in the match, it became clear that Fils had slimmed down and appeared noticeably leaner with his 6ft 1in frame. He was moving well and already looked like the explosive force he’s demonstrated over the last few years on tour.

The first two sets were very close in level, with both players holding serve all but once in the first set to force two tiebreakers. Fils showed composure to overturn a 4-1 deficit in the first set tiebreak and save a set point before taking it 9-7.

Royer levelled the match by taking the second set tiebreak 7-4. However, the most impressive stage of the match for Fils came in the final set, where he really took control with two breaks of serve while holding his own serve four times to clinch the match: 7-6(7), 6-7(4), 6-2.

Numbers such as 14 aces and 50 winners will certainly please Arthur Fils, but not more so than his body holding up for over two and a half hours. He seemed to cope without issues physically and moved very well, dominating at the net with 14/14 points won.

Having said that, the ATP schedule is relentless, so Fils will balance the optimism with caution as he rests for one day before a second round meeting with Ugo Blanchet – a match Arthur Fils will be a considerable favourite for.

Separately to this week in Montpellier, Fils is chalked in to play Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai.