Title winners
Arthur Fils of France defeated American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 to capture his first Masters 1000 title on Sunday at the Cincinnati Open.
The 22-year-old Fils was the youngest French champion in Masters 1000 history and became the second French player to win a Cincinnati final, joining Guy Forget in 1991.
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Winning in Cincinnati made Fils the third Black man to win a Masters 1000 title as he joined Ben Shelton, who won twice in Canada, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who won in Paris in 2008 and Canada in 2014.
Fils claimed the trophy thanks to monumental mental resistance under pressure as the Frenchman clawed himself back into the match after a desperate second set, recovering to defeat Tiafoe and win the Cincinnati Open.
Fils deployed his booming forehand to great effect in the first and third sets, converting four of eight break points, and truly dominated the deciding set to end France’s 12-year wait for a Masters 1000 titlist.
It was the second time Tiafoe managed to book his ticket for the Cincinnati Open final, as he lost to Jannik Sinner in 2024. Tiafoe missed out on becoming the first American male to win in Cincinnati since Andy Roddick in 2006.
In the women's tournament, Coco Gauff reigned supreme against American compatriot Jessica Pegula to capture her second women's Cincinnati Open title Sunday, joining Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka as the only women to win the WTA 1000 event twice. The last time two American women played in the Cincinnati final was in 1970 when Rosie Casals beat Nancy Richey.
Gauff took the initiative from the start and stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the first set, which she eventually claimed 6-2. Pegula then forced her way back into the match at 5-4 in the second before Gauff, who converted five out of six break points in the contest, managed to close out the win.
One year ago, Gauff made no less than 16 double faults, crashing out of the Cincinnati Open against Jasmine Paolini with her career at a crossroads. But since then, an enormous amount of resilience and patience has seen her return to the peak of women's tennis, and Cincinnati marked Gauff’s fifth WTA 1000 semi-final of the season and her third final.
Gauff displayed her dominance throughout the week. After dropping the opening set of her first match against Liudmila Samsonova, she won no less than 12 consecutive sets while conceding just 32 games.
The head-to-head series between Gauff and Pegula is now tied at five apiece before the US Open. Sunday was their second meeting in a final, with Gauff winning at Wuhan last year.
Biggest strugglers
Just one week before the US Open, Aryna Sabalenka is currently experiencing a major career crisis marked by severe on-court meltdowns, mental exhaustion, and a string of unexpected losses. She looked unstoppable earlier in the year when she won back-to-back titles in Indian Wells and Miami, but her form has collapsed, which has put her World No. 1 ranking under immense pressure right before the US Open.
After suffering a quarter-final collapse in the French Open against Diana Shnaider, she openly admitted that she was mentally exhausted and "wanted to quit tennis right now". Her struggles continued onto Wimbledon, where she lost in the fourth round and said that she "just wanted to get drunk and forget about tennis".
Her poor form has spilled into the North American hard-court season. She suffered a fourth-round defeat to Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Canadian Open, and in the past week she lost to Sara Bejlek in the Round of 16 as her slump continued.
In the men's game, a foot injury and a stress fracture forced Valentin Vacherot to miss the grass-court season, and he also withdrew from Roland Garros after his breakout Shanghai run last season. Short of match practice, Vacherot also crashed out early in the second round in Cincinnati against Adolfo Daniel Vallejo.
Standout moment
While Carlos Alcaraz has announced his comeback to tennis at the US Open following a wrist injury, the passionate supporters at Flushing Meadows will no doubt rue the absence of Italian World No. 1 Sinner, who won't be present at the last Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Sinner withdrew from the tournament on Friday due to a right knee injury, with the debate over why so many top players are picking up long-term injuries back on the agenda. This is the first time that Sinner has missed a Grand Slam tournament since he made his major debut at the 2019 US Open.
“Even though I have been working hard with my team and my medical staff, we have now had to make the difficult decision that I will not be able to compete at the US Open this year," Sinner said in a statement. "We have been back on court in Monte Carlo over the last couple of days and have realised that I still need more time to recover from my right knee issue."
"I’m obviously very sad and disappointed, as New York has a special place in my heart. I was very much looking forward to coming back and playing in the electric atmosphere in front of the great fans there," said Sinner.
The last time Sinner was in action was at Wimbledon, where he claimed his fifth major trophy and his first Grand Slam trophy of the season.
Best rallies
Brandon Nakashima and Taylor Fritz brought the crowd in Cincinnati to their feet when they challenged each other with a sensational 32-stroke marathon duel where Nakashima eventually prevailed, producing a stunning forehand winner.
Pegula seemed to be on the ropes of this rally against Iga Swiatek in the Cincinnati semi-final when she crushed a forehand down the line to get herself out of trouble.
Upcoming events
A field of 48 players is in the lineup, among others, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Luciano Darderi, Tomas Machac, Lorenzo Sonego, and Botic van de Zandschulp, as the ATP 250 tournament Winston-Salem Open offers the world elite of men's tennis a chance to put the final touch on their preparations before the US Open, which is set to start next week in New York.
There will be valuable points at stake for the women who will head to Monterrey, Mexico, where Ekaterina Alexandrova and Elise Mertens are the top seeds, while players like Maja Chwalinska, Janice Tjen and Anastasia Potapova will aim to boost their confidence before the US Open.
Svend Bertil Frandsen has been Senior News Editor for Flashscore News in Denmark since September 2022. He has formerly worked for UEFA and FIFA and is a former tennis pro. He specializes in news around football, tennis, badminton and handball. You can also follow him on LinkedIn.
