MASON − History will be made one way or another in the Cincinnati Open men’s singles final on Sunday, Aug. 23.
For starters, the championship tilt will produce the first-ever ATP 1000 title for either No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe or No. 21 seed Arthur Fils.
Tiafoe, who is making his second Cincinnati Open finals appearance in three years, will try to become the first American to win the Rookwood Cup since Andy Roddick in 2006.
It’s also the first-ever ATP 1000 men’s final between two black players, according to the ATP. The winner will become the third black men’s player to win an ATP 1000, joining Ben Shelton (a two-time winner in Canada) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2008 Paris Masters).
Here’s how Tiafoe and Fils advanced to the Cincinnati Open finals.
Frances Tiafoe beats Brandon Nakashima in All-American Cincinnati Open semifinal
In his post-match interview after a quarterfinal win on Aug. 21, Tiafoe called compatriot Brandon Nakashima “the hottest guy on tour right now.”
Nakashima was exactly that with his top 20 debut in the ATP Rankings coming up on Monday. The 25-year-old had just reached the Canadian Open final last week before a semifinal run in Cincinnati. He was the first American since Mardy Fish in 2011 to reach the semifinals in Canada and in Cincinnati in the same season.
Nakashima’s 12-2 record this year on hard courts didn’t matter Aug. 22, as Tiafoe won 77% of points on the first serve and broke Nakashima five times en route to a straight set victory (7-5, 6-3).
“It’s been awesome to see how he (Nakashima) is playing,” Tiafoe said about his Indian Wells doubles partner earlier this year. “I knew what it had to be, and I was excited.”
Nakashima led, 5-4, in the first and reached set point with Tiafoe on serve. Tiafoe delivered an emphatic cross-court forehand to get back to deuce. On the second set point, Nakashima’s return sailed wide and he ultimately held 5-5. He followed with a break of Nakashima, then held serve to take the first set, 7-5.
Picking his spots throughout the match, Tiafoe staved off 7 of 9 break points from Nakashima, who couldn’t match Tiafoe’s consistency throughout the 1 hour, 41-minute semifinal.
A crowd favorite in Cincinnati, Tiafoe had a stone-cold look of celebration as Nakashima’s final return sailed long on match point. He soaked it all in as the crowd erupted.
“So much love,” Tiafoe said in his post-match interview.
Tiafoe now has two ATP 1000 finals appearances, both in Cincinnati, and has the most wins (37) of any American on the ATP tour this season. Tiafoe is 18-9 all-time in the Cincinnati Open and 51-52 in all other ATP 1000 events combined.
“For whatever reason, I play really well here,” Tiafoe said.
Tiafoe admitted he nearly missed the Cincinnati Open. He said he was in “bad shape” post Wimbledon. He needed to have cyst removed from his wrist earlier this month and was advised to skip Mason in preparation for New York.
“They didn’t actually want me to play here. But obviously every athlete is stubborn. I was like, ‘well, I’m going to be Cincinnati,'” Tiafoe said. “A couple of Jeff Ruby’s in me, I feel pretty good and I was like, ‘Let’s go for it.'”
Tiafoe fell to top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the 2024 final. Tiafoe is one win away from the biggest title of his career and fifth overall. His last title was earlier this summer, when he topped Taylor Fritz in an All-American final in the ATP 500 Halle Open.
Arthur Fils defeats Flavio Cobolli to reach Cincinnati Open final
Twenty-two-year-old Arthur Fils is in his first Masters final.
Fils, the No. 21 seed from France, defeated No. 7 seed and Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4 in the first men’s semifinal of the 2026 Cincinnati Open on Saturday, Aug. 21. As the second Frenchman in the open era to reach the Cincinnati Open final, he will move on to play the winner of the semifinal between No. 17 Frances Tiafoe and No. 27 Brandon Nakashima in Sunday’s championship match (4:30 p.m.).
“A goal since the start of the season was to try to go deep in those big tournaments and to try to play on the biggest stadiums,” Fils said after his win. “That’s what we are doing here. So pretty happy with the performance today, with the whole week, but still one to go.”
The Frenchman overcame a shaky start of the first set, but soon was able to tap into his power and athleticism to take a lead. He then rode an early break in the second set to hold his way to victory. Fils served up six aces and recorded a 82% first serve win percentage in a match that lasted just an hour and seven minutes.
Cobolli broke first to take a 2-1 lead in the opening set, coming back from a 40-15 deficit after Fils overhit several shots and double-faulted on break point. But he gave his next service game right back to Fils with some unforced errors of his own. Fils then broke Cobolli again at 5-3 before taking the first set 6-3, as he captivated the Mason crowd by dictating the pace of rallies and playing tenacious defense to win points.
Though Fils undoubtedly brought up the crowd’s energy in the first set, he says that he’s gotten better at not relying on it to win matches and plays with more composure than he did in the spring. That helped him in the next set.
The mistakes began to pile up for Cobolli in the second set, as he handed Fils a break to open things. Both players started serving better than they did to start the first set for the next seven games of the second. But that was enough for Fils, who continued to punish Cobolli with heavy ballstriking and big first serves. He whipped up two forehand winners serving for the match, capturing a 6-4 second set and the win.
“The serve worked, the forehand was nice, I made some winners and I had one great passing shot,” Fils said of what he did well on Saturday. “I didn’t return that well, but that was tough with the conditions because (the court) was pretty fast today.”
Fils previously reached the semifinals at the Miami and Madrid Open this spring, which were his first-ever ATP 1000 semifinals. Now, he breaks through to reach a final, and has the opportunity to win his first title since taking the ATP 500 Barcelona Open in April.
Despite being lauded as one of the top young talents on the ATP tour after winning two titles in 2024, the road to the Cincinnati final wasn’t easy for Fils.
Fils suffered a stress fracture in his lower back at the 2025 French Open and endured months of rehab, causing him to miss 2025 Wimbledon, the 2025 U.S. Open and the 2026 Australian Open. Then, he suffered a hip injury that inhibited him from capitalizing on his spring momentum, as he was forced to pull out of the 2026 French Open.
“I thought I was going to play a way better spring, with the momentum I had since Miami, and I was feeling great. But (I’ve) just got to take it,” Fils said. “Some things are happening for a purpose. Now I know that I’m going to be ready to play here, to play this summer, all U.S. swing.”
Fils was praised by a reporter for his positivity even while battling his injuries, which he said was the only mentality he could have to keep improving through setbacks.
Now that he’s fully healthy, Fils can finally play at his full potential. He’s making the most of it, and is now one match away from the biggest win of his life.
“It’s going to be a nice final to play against an American,” Fils said. “The crowd’s gonna be against me, but I think I’m going to enjoy it.”
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: It’s Frances Tiafoe vs. Arthur Fils in Cincinnati Open men’s final
Reporting by Yanyan Li and Shelby Dermer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Yanyan Li and Shelby Dermer, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
