Arthur Fils is into his first Masters 1000 final after beating Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4 in Cincinnati. The win sent the No 7 seed out and put Fils one match from the title after a rain-delayed semifinal day.
The result also keeps alive a remarkable run for Fils, who has reached a final, two semi-finals and two other quarter-finals in his five completed Masters 1000 tournaments this year. He already owns a fourth title from the Barcelona Open 500 event, and this latest surge lifts him to No 6 in the race to the ATP Finals while carrying him to a career-high No 11.
What makes the run harder to dismiss is where it comes from. Fils was sidelined for nine months after a stress fracture in his back last spring, then had to manage a hip injury at the start of his opening-round match at the Italian Open after his Madrid Open semi-final run. He withdrew from Roland Garros again, and after minimal preparation he lost in the second round at Wimbledon.
Fils did not hide how much the setbacks have shaped the way he handles the tour. He has said that if he is sad and goes crying into his bed, there is no way he can wake up and play good tennis, and that staying positive gives him at least a shot. That has been the difference in a season that has already produced four wins in his last six matches against top 10 opponents.
For Fils, the next step is now clear even if the opponent is not named here: his first Masters 1000 final, with a chance to turn a breakthrough run into a title. For a player who spent most of last year trying to get back on court at all, that is no longer a surprise story. It is the measure of how far he has come.
