Arthur Fils set up a discreet training block at the Tennis Club de Cap d’Ail after returning from Miami, working out within sight of the Masters 1000 de Monte-Carlo and just 4 kilometers from the Monte-Carlo Country Club. The sessions took place on the club’s five clay courts, with Fils using court 1, the Central, every morning from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. while the tournament was going on nearby.
A local source said the world No. 21 was there each day, and a young man at the club said the court was effectively taken over during those hours. Fils wanted to stay incognito, and people who tried to photograph the scene were asked to put their phones away. Mathys Domenc, who trained with him for two hours, said Fils did not ask him to avoid social media, but wanted few people near the court or in the stands so the work would not be disturbed.
Domenc, described as a 21e mondial junior in his category, later said he had “almost done everyone,” naming Joao Fonseca, Carlos Alcaraz, Bublik and De Minaur among the players he had faced. He also said the whole setup was meant to stay secret. Boris Vallejo said the contact came through Goran Ivanisevic and Ivan Ljubicic, adding that he knew Domenc had the level to do the job.
The timing gives the block its meaning. The work came during Monte-Carlo week, at a site close to the Louis-II stadium and framed by those around Fils as preparation for Roland-Garros. On Monday, Fils ended the silence himself, posting short Instagram clips that showed gliding drills and a physical session on the sand with Lapo Beche.
The contrast is sharp: a player trying to vanish at one of the season’s most visible stops, then later revealing the work in a few brief clips. The training was meant to be private, but the setting, the schedule and the posts made it clear Fils is already deep into his clay-court build-up, and he is doing it with Grand Slam timing in mind.
