Fils was poised to take on Roland-Garros 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, but has now been replaced by Dutch lucky loser Jesper de Jong in the 128-man draw.

“I'm not going to be able to play here this year. It's a shame, of course. I'm very sorry about it,” Fils told reporters on Saturday afternoon.

“In Rome I felt pain around the hip, was bothering me a lot. Then after, I did some examinations. Everything was looking pretty fine, but still a lot of pain.

“I was not able to practice for the last two weeks. Actually, the practice today was my first-ever points since two weeks in Rome.

“I'm not even at 50 percent of my normal shape right now, I will not take any risk like I did last year. I don't want to be stupid.”

It was a difficult decision to arrive at for the world No.19, but one that makes sense with a long career stretching ahead of him.

“If it was the last tournament of my life, I will have played, but now I have 10 more years, 15 more years,” he said.

It is the second successive year that Fils has suffered heartbreak at Roland-Garros.

Twelve months ago he sustained a lower back stress fracture in Paris, an injury that meant he played just two more matches during the rest of the year.

Since returning to action in February, Fils had dazzled with a series of impressive results, culminating with the Barcelona Open title last month.

On May 9 Fils retired from his Rome match against Italian Andrea Pellegrino after just four games, hoping to boost his recovery in time for Roland-Garros.

“All is well. It's not the end of it. You know, I'm fine. It's just that I'm hurt. I'm trying to do the best job possible to play on grass. It's not a disaster.”