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Arthur Fils has always believed he was on the path to the very top of his chosen sport. Even when others considered him too young, too green or far too self-confident, he has entered the biggest tournaments in the world with the intention of winning them, ambitions he did not hesitate to express.

On a historic afternoon in Mason, Ohio, Fils took an huge step forward in pursuit of those massive goals as the 22-year-old became a Masters 1000 champion for the first time in his young career. His greatest achievement was secured with a supreme mental effort under pressure as the Frenchman dragged himself back into contention after a desperate second set, recovering to defeat Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 and win the Cincinnati Open.

Even before a ball was struck, this was a historic moment: the first ATP Masters 1000 final played between two black players. The pair have built such a great rapport that before this match, the biggest final of their careers, they cracked jokes together as they departed the practice courts side-by-side. After taking a customary picture with the guest invited on-court to deliver the coin toss, Fils insisted on taking a picture with Tiafoe alone to mark the occasion.

However, they were far more conscious of the enormous opportunity before them. One winnable match stood between each man and their first ever Masters 1000 title. That shared tension is perhaps what made for a disjointed battle, with sharp momentum swings and minimal rhythm. In the end, it was Fils who managed his emotions at the beginning of the final set and willed his best tennis to the surface when it mattered most.

This victory hopefully marks the end of a cruel period in Fils’s career and the ascension of a special talent capable of remaining at the top for many years. He has long been one of the best young players on the tour and until last year he was steadily rising. His momentum was broken by a series of injuries, starting with a stress fracture in his back that essentially sidelined him for nine months until this February. He then endured an injury to his hip and back area that forced him to miss the French Open this year. Fils has finished only one grand slam tournament without an injury, Wimbledon this year, since the 2024 US Open.

Between those injuries, however, Fils has been comfortably one of the best players in the world and this result is merely reflective of that. Despite his injury layoffs, he now sits at No 5 in the ATP race and at a career high ranking of No 11. With Jannik Sinner absent and Carlos Alcaraz only just returning from his four month wrist injury layoff, he heads into the US Open as part of the top group of contenders competing for their first grand slam title.

As was the case for much of this week, Fils burst into the match serving at an incredible level from the start, with five aces in his first three service games.

With Tiafoe struggling to land his first serve, Fils broke serve in his opening return game and he followed up his supreme serving by relentlessly attacking his forehand as he rolled through the first set.

Tiafoe had been so mentally tough all week and he immediately reset after being outplayed in the first set. After being handed a break from Fils at the beginning of set two with a loose, erratic service game, Tiafoe began to find rhythm behind his first serve and it freed up his groundstrokes in turn. He spent the remainder of the set striking the ball so cleanly and rushing Fils with his early shotmaking and he eased through to level the match. Just 54 minutes into the encounter, they were in a deciding set.

While Tiafoe soared, Fils’s entire game had been in freefall throughout the second set. After a brief bathroom break, Fils immediately trailed 0-30 on his serve at the beginning of set three. He responded with ample first serves and relentless aggression off both wings, recovering to seal an essential hold at the start of the decider. Having halted the momentum against him, Fils resumed his serving dominance and took control of the baseline as he dominated an erratic Tiafoe.

Fils leaves Cincinnati having provided another supreme exhibition of his talent, and more evidence in favour of the increasingly popular belief that he could be the player to challenge Sinner and Alcaraz once they are both healthy and at full strength again.

His forehand, with all its monstrous pace and spin, is the biggest groundstroke on the tour, and his excellent backhand means there is no safe place on the court against him once the ball is in play. He is serving better than he ever has and very few players move as well as him.

Most importantly, though, he has full belief in his capacity to achieve great things on the court, and he continues to move in the direction of those objectives.