Arthur Fils: “When You Get Injured, You Just Think About Coming Back for These Moments” — Frenchman Claims First Masters Title in Cincinnati
After missing nearly eight months last year due to a severe back injury, Arthur Fils completed a remarkable comeback on Sunday evening at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The 22-year-old out-slugged American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 in just one hour and 28 minutes to capture the Cincinnati Open—his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title.
With the victory, Fils became the youngest French Masters 1000 champion in series history and the first Frenchman to lift a Masters trophy since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2014. He is also just the second French man in the Open Era to win in Cincinnati, joining Guy Forget (1991).
“I’m very happy. It was a tough year last year,” Fils said. “When you get injured, you just think about coming back for these moments. It feels very good to have a trophy next to me, especially a Masters 1000. I never won one before. That’s why I play. I knew I could make it.”
A Battle of Momentum Against Tiafoe
Fils dominated early with his heavy, flat ball-striking, but Tiafoe—appearing in his second Cincinnati final in three years—rallied with the home crowd behind him to sweep the second set.
However, Fils reclaimed complete control in the decider, converting four of eight break points and firing 11 aces to improve to an immaculate 9-0 in deciding sets in 2026.
Tiafoe, who received a medical timeout prior to the third set, refused to attribute the final-set bagel to physical issues.
“No, that’s not important,” Tiafoe said. “He won his first Masters 1000. It’s his moment, his Sunday. He got on me early. I had some chances there early in the third and didn’t take them… Ultimately, I feel great. He got out of trouble there in the third. Tennis is about ebbs and flows, so he ran with it.”
Answering the Critics
Following match point, Fils signed “WHO’S GONNA TALK NOW?” on the court camera lens—a direct response to those who doubted his future during his extended injury layoff.
“It’s very easy to criticize that I’m done, that I don’t know how to play tennis, but here we are. I got the title,” Fils reflected. “I just had to stay positive and to find a way to make it work. Even if I didn’t win today, I knew that being positive was going to help me in the next weeks, at the US Open or on the Asia swing.”
The victory extends Fils’ record against American opponents to 8-0 since the start of 2025 and propels him to a career-high World No. 11 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
