Arthur Fils' Wimbledon race against time: Back injury forces Halle Open withdrawal

Arthur Fils has withdrawn from the ATP 500 Halle Open, raising concerns for Wimbledon. The French No. 1 recently suffered an injury at the French Open, where he had to retire before his third-round match against Andrey Rublev (17th seed), giving the Russian passage to the second week of the tournament.

Fils had a good first-round victory over Nicolas Jarry in four sets and then survived a comeback from Jaume Munar to clinch a five-set win, rallying from a break point down in the fifth set. According to reports during Roland Garros, Fils sustained a stress fracture in his back.

The 20-year-old hoped to return at Halle, but his recovery has been delayed. According to L'Equipe, doubts are beginning to emerge about his participation in Wimbledon, where he is the 15th seed. Vincent Guillard, the doctor for the French Tennis Federation, stated that Fils currently requires a few more weeks of rest. "The basis of the treatment (for a stress fracture in the back) is rest."

After his withdrawal in Paris, Fils spoke of a recovery period of between four and six weeks. Roughly 10 days have passed since he sustained the injury. His last match was on May 29th, and Wimbledon begins on June 30th, meaning he needs to accelerate his recovery if he wants to appear in the year's third Grand Slam and avoid missing the entire grass-court swing.