Arthur Fils‘ Cincinnati Open campaign was like a fairy tale that he’ll never want to forget. He defeated local hero Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 in the final to claim his maiden Masters crown. It was an impressive campaign for the Frenchman overall, as he also defeated players like Jiri Lehecka, Alex de Minaur, and Flavio Cobolli on his way to the final. While Fils was indeed ecstatic with the title win, he didn’t forget to share a fitting message to all his doubters.

He shared a post on X titled “Who’s gonna talk now?” after his victory in the final. When asked why he wrote such a post, Fils called out his critics and pointed out that he won the biggest title of his career despite their constant criticism.

“People think that I’m done, and I don’t know how to play tennis. But here we are. I got the title,” he said during the post-match press conference.

One of Fils’ critics didn’t appear to be too happy with his post and lashed out at him. “You’re a loudmouthed gringo yelling all the damn time and you don’t have an ounce of respect for tennis nor are you a gentleman,” the user wrote. But the 22-year-old didn’t have much to say and simply replied with an emoji.

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The victory over Tiafoe made Fils just the second man after Jakub Mensik to be born in 2004 or later and win a Masters title. He is also the first French player in 12 years to win a Masters crown. Fils had come close to winning the title earlier this year in Miami and Madrid, but had crashed out in the semifinals of both tournaments. He has now clinched two titles this season, as he had triumphed at the Barcelona Open earlier in April.

Improving his win-loss record to 32-10 with the triumph in Cincinnati, Fils has reached the fifth spot in the race to the ATP Finals. He is also expected to rise 10 spots and reach a career-high rank of No. 11. What makes this all the more impressive is the fact that the Frenchman had missed the Australian swing, the French Open, and most of the grass-court swing due to injuries.

Fils can reach the top 10 later at the US Open as he will only be 335 points behind Taylor Fritz. He doesn’t have any points to defend at Flushing Meadows, as he hadn’t participated in the Grand Slam last year due to a back injury. So, a decent campaign here could propel him into the top 10 for the first time in his career.

The youngster has looked to be in great touch ever since the hard-court season began. Fils first reached the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open after racking up three victories. He was eventually knocked out by Rafael Jodar, but didn’t let the same thing happen in Cincinnati. Having never gone beyond the second round at the US Open before, Fils appears to be in contention to make a deep run this time around.