Fils and Gauff Win Cincinnati!

Arthur Fils beat Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 in one hour and twenty-eight minutes to claim the first Masters 1000 title of his career. In the women's final, Coco Gauff defeated Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-4, adding a second Cincinnati title to the one she won in 2023.

At 22 years and 72 days, Fils is the youngest Frenchman to win a Masters 1000, ahead of Sébastien Grosjean (23 years and 159 days) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (23 years and 199 days). Tsonga was the last Frenchman to do it, in Toronto in 2014, twelve years ago. The new ranking puts him at No. 11, a career high, and fifth in the Race.

The third set turned the match around. Fils closed it out with 11 aces and won 71% of his first-serve points.

"It's been a tough year. I didn't play Roland Garros, I lost early in Washington. People thought I was done. And yet here I am,"

he said after the trophy presentation.

Tiafoe, in his second Cincinnati final after losing in 2024, chose to laugh it off:

"I'll have two Cincinnati runner-up trophies at home."

Gauff raced to a 5-0 start and converted five of the six break points she had all match. Pegula fought back to 5-4 in the second set but never got closer. She's coming off a semifinal win over Iga Swiatek 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, her 300th career victory. The head-to-head between the two Americans is now level at 5-5, and it was the first all-American women's final in Cincinnati since 1970.

Now it's on to the US Open, with the draw set for Thursday, August 27 and the main draw starting August 30. Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz are defending champions, while Alexander Zverev will be the top men's seed after the withdrawal of Jannik Sinner, out with the right knee injury that had already forced him to skip Cincinnati. Pegula will be the No. 3 seed on the women's side, Gauff No. 4.