The China Mail - Fils pulls out of home Grand Slam with painful injury

The 21-year-old, ranked 19th in the world, had been due to face veteran Stan Wawrinka in the first round of the tournament which starts on Sunday.

"I wondered, would I only play for one round or two rounds? Am I ready for everything?" he asked at a press conference at Roland Garros after a morning practice session with Jiri Lehecka on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

"The answer is to aim for a deep run. I know I can do it, but I wouldn't be 100 percent. I'm not even at 50 percent of my normal shape right now, so I don't want to take any risk."

Last year, Fils, who is from the Paris suburbs, withdrew before his third-round match at Roland Garros with a stress fracture in his back.

"It's not the same as last year," Fils said. "I don't know if it's the lower back, or the hip or the psoas (muscle) ... I don't even know myself."

Fils also withdrew from Wimbledon and the US Open in 2025. The last Grand Slam he completed without injury was in 2024, when he lost in the second round of the US Open.

Fils said he would "do the work to try to be ready to play on grass," with Wimbledon just over a month away.

"I hurt so much after 20 minutes and I play five sets, I would never hold my own," Fils said.

"If it was the last tournament of my life, I will have played, but now that I have 10 more years, 15 more years, I cannot do every time the same mistake," he said.

Dutchman Jesper de Jong, ranked 109th in the world, received a lucky loser spot to replace Fils.

R.Yeung--ThChM