Arthur Fils continues to prove that he’s a gamer. A big-match player who thrives on the big stage. On Thursday night Cincinnati he made it obvious to anyone who was watching as he rifled past dangerous Argentinian Thiago Augustin Tirante, 6-3, 6-2, to reach his third Masters 1000 semifinal of 2026.
Fils is now the first Frenchman to achieve that feat since 1991, and he’ll face Flavio Cobolli for a spot in the final on Saturday.
“Tonight was good, felt good,” Fils said after his 64-minute victory. “First time on the center court and it’s kind of different energy. I just played my best tennis, and I’m very happy with the performance.”
Tirante, ranked No.50, was in the midst of a breakout week after defeating Novak Djokovic in the second round and powering through to reach his first Masters quarterfinal. But he was no match for Fils on Thursday, even if the Frenchman came away impressed by the powerful 25-year-old.
“He has an unbelievable forehand, unbelievable serve,” Fils said. “At the start of the match, I was surprised by the speed of his ball. I was like, ‘Wow, this is going really, really fast.’ I tried to go a little bit back to make him play a bit more. And I stayed very solid in the head, disciplined, and it worked pretty good for me.”
Fils handled the pressure and steered the ball into the corners, forcing Tirante to defend when he would have preferred to be on the attack. It was a masterclass from the 22-year-old and he improved to 18-5 at the Masters 1000 level in 2025 with the win.
Fils hit nine forehand winners to just two for Tirante, and won nine of ten points that lasted more than nine strokes. He was under control throughout as he broke serve three times and never faced a break point.
He’ll take a 2-0 lifetime record against Cobolli, but the pair have not met since Monte-Carlo in 2026. This year Cobolli has been a different player, as was demonstrated in Paris, where he reached his first major final.
He defeated Tommy Paul in three sets in Thursday’s first quarterfinal to reach his first Masters semifinal, 2-6 6-3 6-4.
“It’s gonna be a nice battle,” Fils said. “I’m really looking forward to playing against him. He has had an unbelievable year, playing his best tennis. I think it’s gonna be a nice match. He’s gonna go for me and I am gonna go for him, and let’s see.”
0 comments