Fils blitzes de Minaur to reach Cincinnati quarterfinals, he’s back in the Top 20
Arthur Fils overwhelmed Alex de Minaur to reach the Cincinnati quarterfinals, tying Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s French record for Masters 1000 quarterfinals in a season and extending the Australian’s drought at that stage on American soil.
Arthur Fils, Cincinnati 2026 | © Jared Wickerham /Wick Photography for Cincinnati Open
Frenchman Arthur Fils, the No 21 seed, overpowered Alex de Minaur, the No 5 seed, 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes to reach the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals on Wednesday evening.
Fils will next face Argentinian Thiago Agustin Tirante, who upset Novak Djokovic in the second round for the biggest win of his career and is bidding to become the first Argentine man to reach a Masters 1000 quarterfinal since Juan Martin del Potro in 2018.
The run will lift Fils back into the top 20, with his live ranking projected at No. 18 – four spots shy of his career-high of No. 14.
“I don’t play often but when I play I go far, so I’m happy,” Fils said after the match.
Fils’s eighth Masters 1000 quarterfinal and his fifth of the season
The win is Fils’s eighth Masters 1000 quarterfinal and his fifth of the season, tying Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s 2012 record for the most Masters 1000 quarterfinals reached by a Frenchman in a single season. It also makes him just the third Frenchman in the Open Era to reach the quarterfinals of both the Canadian and Cincinnati Masters in the same season, following Fabrice Santoro in 2004 and Gael Monfils in 2011.
Fils was in imperious touch throughout, winning 80 percent of points behind his first serve and 65 percent behind his second, leaving de Minaur’s return all but helpless. The Australian did have a look at extending the match, saving a match point on his own serve at 5-3 in the second set, but Fils closed it out on his next chance.
The result also leveled Fils’s head-to-head with de Minaur at 2-2, avenging back-to-back losses at Wimbledon in 2024 and Rotterdam earlier this year.
For de Minaur, it continues a stubborn pattern: the Australian is now 0-8 in fourth-round matches at Masters 1000 level on US soil, still searching for his first quarterfinal on American hard courts at that level. He had reached this stage by beating Englishman Arthur Fery, the No 32 seed, 7-5, 7-6 (3), and French qualifier Quentin Halys 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Fils reached this round by beating Czech Jiri Lehecka, the No 9 seed, 6-1, 6-7 (7), 6-3, and German Yannick Hanfmann 7-6 (5), 6-1.
- T. Paul (18) d. A. Zverev (1): 4-6, 7-6, 6-4
- F. Cobolli (7) d. R. Jodar (12): 4-6, 7-6, 6-3
- T. Tirante d. Mensik (14): 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
- A. Fils (21) d. A. de Minaur (5): 6-3, 6-4
- T. Fritz (6) vs C. O’Connell
- N. Borges vs B. Nakashima (27)
- J. Faria vs L. Musetti (10)
- F. Tiafoe (17) vs F. Auger-Aliassime (2)
