Arthur Fils overcame an early break Saturday to handily defeat seventh-seeded Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4 and advance to his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio.
Fils will play No. 17 Frances Tiafoe, who won the All-American semifinal with 27th-seeded Brandon Nakashima, 7-5, 6-3, in one hour, 43 minutes. Tiafoe returns to the Cincinnati Open final on Sunday for the second time in three years, but he also has never won an ATP Masters 1000 final.
Fils, the 21st-seeded Frenchman, dropped serve in the third game of the opening set but quickly settled in following a roughly 45-minute delay caused by rain and lightning during the initial warm-up. Once play began, Fils needed just 67 minutes to dispatch Cobolli.
“I was very happy with the performance,” Fils said. “I started pretty slow. I was a bit tight, but I think from 4-3 in the first set when I won those long rallies, just the momentum came my way and I felt so much better.”
Fils responded to the early break by immediately getting back on serve and eventually closed the opening set by winning the final three games.
The 22-year-old remained in control behind his serve from there. He won 27 of 33 first-serve points (81.8 percent) and converted three of four break-point opportunities.
Fils broke Cobolli in the opening game of the second set and never gave the Italian an opening to get back into the match. He did not face a break point over the final set before serving out the victory.
The interruption before the match added another element for Fils to navigate in the biggest Masters 1000 match of his career.
“It’s not easy,” Fils said. “I came out on the court, and it is a semifinal, so of course you are a bit more nervous, but then the rain arrived and you’ve got to wait. Then after you come back the conditions are completely different and everything altogether was a bit tough to deal with, but I’m pretty happy with the way I managed.”
Fils improved to 3-0 against Cobolli and became the second player born in 2004 or later to reach a Masters 1000 final, joining Czech Jakub Mensik, who won Miami in 2025.
The victory also continued a climb up the rankings for Fils, who improved to 31-10 this season and moved to No. 11 in the live ATP rankings.
Cobolli will also leave Ohio with a career milestone despite the loss. The 24-year-old is projected to rise four places to a career-high No. 6 when the new rankings are released Monday.
Tiafoe, 28, is the third American man this century to reach multiple Cincinnati finals, joining Andy Roddick (2003, 2005-06) and Mardy Fish (2003, 2010). To do it, he had to beat Nakashima for the seventh time in their eight meetings in tour-level matches.
“I’m really happy with it,” Tiafoe, who has won four titles on the ATP Tour, said of advancing to the final. “It’s been a great week and a great weekend, unexpectedly, so I’m super happy.”
Tiafoe converted 5 of 10 break-point opportunities, to 2 of 9 for Nakashima. Tiafoe also had more winners (30-23) and one fewer unforced error (28-29).
Fils beat Tiafoe in their lone match on tour, 7-6 (11), 5-7, 6-2 in a third-round match which lasted nearly three hours at the Miami Open in March 2025.
“He’s a helluva player,” Tiafoe said of Fils. “Moves great, serves great. He has the shot-making (ability). He’s going to want it, he’s going to be pumped up and so am I. May the best man win.”
–Field Level Media
