Fils edges tight opener, runs away with second set in Cincinnati

Arthur Fils needed a tie-break to settle a tense opening set against Yannick Hanfmann in the Cincinnati Round of 64, then pulled clear for a 7-6 6-1 win. The two men matched each other with seven aces apiece, but the margins came elsewhere: Fils landed 58.7 per cent of his first serves and won 78.4 per cent of those points, against 53.7 and 72.2 for the German. The second-serve gap was decisive, Fils taking 50 per cent of those points to Hanfmann's 38.7, with seven double faults from the loser against just two. A clean start to the Frenchman's week.