ATP Tour

Why Arthur Fils is on fire

Succeed on serve, win matches.

That has proven a critical formula for Arthur Fils, who on Sunday will play Frances Tiafoe in the Cincinnati Open final, with one of the two men set to become a first-time ATP Masters 1000 titlist.

A lot of discussion around Fils’ game centres on the Frenchman’s booming groundstrokes, and the 22-year-old’s huge forehand and backhand are certainly vital to his success.

But if you are watching Fils compete, there is one question that will give you a good idea of how his day is going: How often is he holding serve?

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis shows that it is no coincidence that the four-time ATP Tour champion is into his first Masters 1000 final and has advanced that far behind service dominance. Through five matches, Fils has won 50 of his 53 service games, a winning rate of more than 94.3 per cent, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

This is just the peak of a season in which this year’s Barcelona winner has far exceeded his previous serving efforts.

Fils' 2026 Serving Stats (through Cincinnati SFs)

Entering the tournament, the Bondoufle-born righty had won 85.8 per cent of his service games this season and 82 per cent for his career. Before 2026, his best performance for a full season with a qualifying number of games came in 2024, when he won 82.1 per cent of his service games.

Tennis is a sport of small margins, so climbing from 82 per cent of career service games won to 85.8 per cent entering Cincinnati is a critical jump. Thanks to his play in Ohio, Fils has now won 86.8 per cent of his service games for the year.

The major key behind that improvement has been his second-serve performance. Having entered Cincinnati with a career 51 per cent win rate behind his second delivery, he has now claimed 56.4 per cent of his second-serve points in 2026, including 61.7 per cent in Cincinnati.

Fils has slightly improved on return — from 21 per cent of return games won for his career to 22 per cent in 2026 — but not as much as he has on serve. And when his service games have been vulnerable, it has shown in his match results.

In nine losses this season that came in a completed match, Fils lost his serve at least three times in all of them. None of those defeats came in a deciding set.

When Fils has bowed out of tournaments this season, opponents have found ways to consistently break his serve. But as he has shown in Cincinnati, taking care of his serve has led to plenty of success.

After losing serve just once in his semi-final victory against Flavio Cobolli — in his second service game of the match — Fils pointed out how critical that was. After the one time he lost serve, the Frenchman needed deuce in just one more game the rest of the match.

“I started pretty slow. I was a bit tight, but I think from 4-3 in the first set when I won those long rallies, just the momentum came my way and I felt so much better,” Fils said. “Especially on the serve, because in the first couple of games I didn’t serve good at all, and then after it was very good. So I’m very happy with the performance.”

The Fils groundstrokes undoubtedly catch the eye. But his service games on the whole have helped him stay on fire.

No matter what happens on Sunday, Fils will climb to a career-high No. 11 or No. 12 in the PIF ATP Rankings, and will sit sixth or seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. Fils is performing better on serve than ever, and he is reaping the rewards.