Fils dominates Tirante to reach his third Masters semi-final of the year
Arthur Fils was near-flawless on Centre Court, holding every service game to dismantle Thiago Tirante 6-3, 6-2 and reach his third Masters 1000 semi-final of the year in Cincinnati. Cobolli next.
Arthur Fils, Cincinnati 2026 | © SPP / PsNewz
Arthur Fils is back to his best. The Frenchman produced a near-flawless performance to beat Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-3, 6-2 on Friday night, reaching the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open – and his third Masters 1000 semi-final of a season repeatedly interrupted by injury, after Miami and Madrid.
It was total domination. Fils held every one of his nine service games, won 83% of his first-serve points and never faced the pressure his opponent did, breaking three times without conceding a single break, at 5-3 in the first set, then twice more, at 1-1 and 3-1, to run away with the second. He cruised to victory in straight sets against a man who had beaten Novak Djokovic earlier in the week.
Playing his first-ever match on Cincinnati’s Centre Court, and in the unfamiliar role of clear favourite, Fils embraced both. “It was weird, the first time that’s happened to me,” he told L’Équipe. “My last quarter-finals were against players ranked higher than me, so it felt a bit strange. But it also feels good to walk on court as the favourite: the guy across the net is a little afraid to play you, and that’s good for morale. Centre Court is slower than the other courts – against De Minaur on the Grandstand it was very fast – so the conditions were very different, but I adapted well.”
The coach let me have fun, and when you enjoy yourself, that’s when you play your best tennis.
The key, he said, was letting go. “I went all out and really hit my forehands, because these are conditions I love. Even my coach told me, ‘Hit, hit the forehand, hit,’ and I thought, ‘OK, let’s go.’ He let me have fun, and when you enjoy yourself, that’s when you play your best tennis.”
The run caps a remarkable stretch: Fils has won seven of his last eight matches, moved to 30 wins in 2026, and reached the last four via impressive victories over No 5 seed Alex de Minaur (6-3, 6-4), No 9 seed Jiri Lehecka and Yannick Hanfmann.
It carries real reward, too. On Monday he will return to a career-high ranking of No 14, and he is now virtually on tracks for a place at the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, sitting seventh in the Race – a striking feat given that injuries have limited him to just one Grand Slam in the latest 12 months, a second-round showing at Wimbledon.
One win now stands between Fils and a first Masters 1000 final. It will come against Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, the No 7 seed.
Cincinnati Open Masters 1000, Quarter-finals
- F. Cobolli (7) d. T.Paul (18): 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
- A. Fils (21) d. T. Tirante: 6-3, 6-2
- T. Fritz (6) vs. B. Nakashima (27): Friday
- L. Musetti (10) vs F. Tiafoe (17): Friday
