Coco Gauff and Arthur Fils Are Champions in Cincinnati
Locker Room
August 24, 2026
Coco Gauff claimed her first title of the year with a brilliant display in Cincinnati.
The all-American final was essentially a one-sided affair, aside from a late comeback by Jessica Pegula.
But Coco’s defence was as extraordinary as her serve on a day she simply wouldn’t be denied. And when the popular superstar serves well, she usually wins.
Gauff’s 6-2, 6-4 victory sent out a warning to her rivals for the US Open battles to come over the next few weeks.
And the Wimbledon-semi-finalist this summer is nearing the height of her powers, you sense.
Coco Gauff will start Wimbledon 2027 as one of the big favourites to lift the title. She first competed for the Wimbledon crown at the tender age of fifteen!
But for now, all eyes will be on Flushing Meadows. And Coco’s sparkling smile in Cincinnati told us she is more than ready for the last Grand Slam of the year.
Gauff said: ‘I think it was a long journey, but I’m happy,’ she said. ‘You always want to feel you’re getting better. I feel it’s night and day, the player I am now compared to last year.’
The defeated Pegula admitted: ‘Just the way she defends out of the corners is better than anybody else. She’s the best mover on tour. So when she’s able to do that – and also serve and return well – it becomes very difficult.’
Meanwhile the way Arthur Fils eventually tamed Frances Tiafoe was perhaps even more remarkable, given the Frenchman’s stress fracture of the spine little more than a year ago.
The Fils forehand was absolutely monstrous in the first and last sets of his dramatic, rollercoaster 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 victory over the American.
Arthur’s self-belief and desire simply outshone the combative qualities of the home favourite. The stunned crowd could only applaud in admiration at the end.
Fils said of his previous injury darkness and first Masters 1000 triumph: ‘It was very mental, to be honest. It was more being on the sidelines than the pain itself.
‘At one point I stopped watching tennis completely. There was a lot of training, a lot of sacrifice. To be able to win a title like this means so much to me.’
Coco Gauff and Arthur Fils will be genuine contenders for Wimbledon 2027. They’re hitting their career peak in good time for the greatest major of them all
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