World No.21 tennis star already has retirement plan at 22 and wants unusual job
Arthur Fils has revealed that he’s already been thinking about life after tennis, even though he’s only 22 years old and believes his best tennis is ahead of him. The French star already has four titles to his name, including this year’s Barcelona Open, and currently sits at No. 21 in the world, seven places off his career-high.
But Fils is hoping to go down a very different career path when he eventually hangs up his racket – even if he’ll have enough money to live off of for the rest of his life. The world No. 21 is currently competing in the Cincinnati Open, where he’s through to the quarter-finals and vying for the biggest title of his career, but he’s already looked ahead to his retirement.
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“I’ll be clear, I love tennis, it’s a beautiful sport. I would have liked to play football, but I wasn’t as good. But I know that my career will only last for a certain amount of time and that it won’t take up my whole life,” Fils told L’Equipe.
“Tennis allows you to earn a lot of money, enough for me to say that at 35, I won’t need to work anymore. I’ll be able to stop without any problem. But if I stop working at 35 and do nothing after that, I’ll go crazy. That’s not possible.”
Instead, Fils already has his eye on a new job, and could be seen on the silver screen once he’s done with tennis. “And there is something that has always attracted me, and that is acting. Yes, I would like to become an actor,” he added.
“But there are also many other things that interest me. I think that thanks to tennis, or by being a professional athlete, doors open for us. Sometimes I meet artists, I meet great actors... So why not take advantage of that and try something?”
For now, Fils is firmly focused on the Cincinnati Open, where he took out No. 5 seed Alex de Minaur 6-3 6-4 in the round of 16. Asked whether he’d impressed himself with his performance, the French ace said: “I think yes. To be honest, I think yes.
“I came on the court, I know Demon is an unbelievable player, great champion. I knew it was going to be a tough match, very happy to win in two sets. I mean, I think I returned pretty good, I served pretty good, the forehand was going well, and I moved good. Everything was good! It was not unbelievable, but very good, and so I’m pretty happy with that.”
The 22-year-old also reached the quarter-finals last week in Canada, losing to Rafael Jodar. He now faces Thiago Agustin Tirante for a place in the semis.
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