Coco Gauff and Arthur Fils Claim Cincinnati Open Titles

Coco Gauff won her first title of 2026 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over fellow American Jessica Pegula in the Cincinnati Open women’s final. BBC Sport reported that the 22-year-old needed one hour and 14 minutes to defeat the third seed, completing a strong final tournament before the US Open.

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The victory made Gauff only the third woman to win the WTA 1,000 tournament twice, after Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka. The world number four dropped only one set during the event and collected her first WTA trophy since Wuhan last October. She is already a two-time major champion.

Gauff’s only lost set came at the start of her opening match against Liudmila Samsonova. According to the BBC report, she then won 12 consecutive sets on her way to the title. Her previous Cincinnati championship came in 2023, three weeks before she secured her first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open.

Qualifying for this year’s US Open began on Sunday, with the main draw scheduled to start on Sunday, August 30. Gauff’s run in Cincinnati included enough difficult situations to reinforce her confidence in her preparation, although she acknowledged that the competition in New York would be demanding.

Arthur Fils won the men’s championship, defeating Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0. The 22-year-old Frenchman recovered emphatically after losing the second set to claim the first ATP Masters 1,000 title of his career against the American home hope. BBC Sport described it as the biggest title of Fils’ career.

Fils has dealt with repeated injury interruptions and returned to competition in February after spending nine months out with a stress fracture in his back. The Cincinnati success was his second ATP Tour title since that return and lifted him to a career-high world ranking of number 11. He also became the first French winner of a Masters 1,000 event since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won in Toronto in 2014.