Sixty-seven minutes, and it was over
Rain and lightning sent both players back to the locker room before a ball had been struck. When they finally came out, Arthur Fils barely gave Flavio Cobolli time to settle. The Frenchman won 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and seven minutes to reach the Cincinnati Open final, the first Masters 1000 final of his career. The match finished a little over an hour ago.
Cobolli actually started better. He broke in the third game of the opening set and looked like the player who had spent all week grinding out three-setters. Fils took the break straight back in the next game, to love. From there the Italian never led again.
The set turned in the eighth game. At 15-30 Fils won a 28-shot rally, then pulled a crosscourt forehand out of nowhere for the break. He served it out, then broke immediately at the start of the second when Cobolli landed one first serve in five. Four games in a row for the Frenchman, and the semifinal had a shape it never lost.
Try it for $0.99.
Fils has found another gear
The 21st seed has dropped a single set all tournament, in the third round against Jiri Lehecka. Hanfmann, Lehecka, Alex de Minaur and Thiago Tirante all went the same way. Beating de Minaur, the world number 8, was the kind of win Fils used to leave behind him: he is 10-16 against the top 10 in his career, 3-5 this season.
His record in tight matches says plenty too. Fils is 9-0 in deciding sets in 2026. Saturday he did not need one.
This is his seventh tour-level final and his third of the season after Doha and Barcelona, but the first at this level. He waits on Brandon Nakashima or Frances Tiafoe for the title match.
Cobolli leaves Ohio with a career best anyway
The Roman had never reached a Masters 1000 semifinal before this week. He got here past Kecmanovic, Blockx, Jodar and then Tommy Paul, the last three from a set down, on a run built almost entirely on refusing to lose. He is 12-2 in deciding sets this year.
The defeat still lifts him to number 6 in the world on Monday, a new career high. A final would have put him in the top five. Fils now leads their head-to-head 3-0, having also won at the Next Gen Finals in 2023 and in Monte-Carlo last year.
Discover the rest of our Tennis news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply