Fils Topples Tiafoe For Cincinnati Title
France’s Arthur Fils won the biggest title of his career on Sunday, overcoming American Frances Tiafoe with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 victory to win the Cincinnati Open.
“Wow, that feels good. That feels good,” Fils said. “It’s a lot of training, a lot of things, a lot of sacrifice. Injury. To be able to win one title like this means a lot to me.”
The title is Fils’ first Masters 1000 of his career, and comes on the heels of him reaching the semifinals in Miami and Madrid earlier this season. Fils converted four of his eight break point chances against Tiafoe on Sunday, and won all six games in the deciding third set to secure the win.
“He played unbelievable and put me under pressure,” Fils said of Tiafoe. “I had a small talk with myself in the toilet. I looked at myself in the mirror and said, ‘Man, even if you have to lose, you’re not going to get worse. So you need to fight and you need to find a way’. My coach told me a couple of things, and here we are.”
The title is Fils’ fifth overall, and he now moves up three spots to No. 21 in the world. Despite the run to the final, Tiafoe falls three spots to No. 23 in the world.
