Fils beat Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 in Cincinnati, recovering from a second-set collapse with a dominant bagel in the decider. The match hinged on Fils's return game: after losing the middle set, he broke Tiafoe three times in a 6-0 third.
Fils edged the opener behind one break at 2-0 and took it 6-3. Tiafoe flipped the match in the second, breaking Fils at 0-2 and 1-5 to level at 6-1. The final set was one-way traffic: Fils broke at 2-0, 4-0 and 6-0.
Fils finished with 11 aces to Tiafoe's four, putting 59% of first serves in against 40% for Tiafoe. The decisive shift came on return: in the third set Fils won 16 receiver points while Tiafoe managed six, and Tiafoe's three double faults hurt.