Arthur Fils won his first ATP Masters 1000 title Sunday, while Coco Gauff beat Jessica Pegula to claim her second Cincinnati Open crown.
Fils, the 21st seed, recovered from a second-set stumble to defeat America's Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0.
The Frenchman started strong, securing an early break to surge ahead 3-0 before Tiafoe managed to hold serve and get on the scoreboard.
He kept up intense baseline pressure, aggressively targeting Tiafoe's second serve to extract errors and build a 5-3 lead. Finishing the opening set in dominant fashion, Fils served three consecutive aces in a flawless final game.
Tiafoe, competing in his second final in Cincinnati, retaliated with equal force during the second set.
The 28-year-old American broke early in the second game to build a 3-0 advantage, using wide forehands to push Fils off the court.
Even though Fils held serve without dropping a point to get on the board, the 17th-seeded Tiafoe scored another break to lead 5-1 before closing out the set to force a decider.
Fils rapidly took charge in the final set, capitalizing on a surge of backhand errors from Tiafoe to secure two breaks and storm to a 4-0 lead.
The 22-year-old's overwhelming pace left the American with no answers and Fils capped off a dominant 6-0 final set following an extended rally to capture the Cincinnati title.
"It was tough, because I started very, very strong, and then in the second set I lost a little bit of focus," Fils said.
"To be able to win one title like this means a lot to me, it’s a lot of training, a lot of things, a lot of sacrifice," he added.
Coco Gauff claimed her second Cincinnati trophy by outplaying world No.3 Jessica Pegula in a commanding 6-2, 6-4 women's final.
The 22-year-old American took charge early, converting two breaks and capitalizing on her countrywoman's double faults to surge to a 5-0 lead in the first set.
Though Pegula, who had eliminated defending champion Iga Swiatek the previous day, managed a love break at 5-2, she couldn't overcome her poor start against the overwhelming power of the world No.4’s forehand.
Building momentum ahead of the U.S. Open, Gauff raced to an early 3-0 lead in the second set, securing a break in the second game by capitalizing on the 32-year-old's return errors.
Pegula, coming off a defeat to Alexandra Eala in the Washington Open final earlier this month, held serve at love in the seventh game and subsequently broke back to trim the margin to 5-4.
However, two-time Grand Slam winner Gauff immediately broke back to claim the set at love, sealing her 12th career singles title.
