On the outdoor hard courts of the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, Titouan Droguet delivered a commanding performance to defeat Greek player Stefanos Sakellaridis in the 2026 Cincinnati Open qualifying final, 6-4, 6-2. The victory was a clear show of force: Droguet did not drop a single service game throughout the match and converted three of four break points.
Serve as a foundation, return as a weapon
The Frenchman dominated proceedings with his serve from start to finish. He won 76 percent of his service games, claiming 81 percent of points on first serve and a solid 68 percent on second serve. Seven aces underlined his authority on his own delivery. Droguet was equally impressive on return: he won 44 percent of return points, while Sakellaridis managed just 24 percent. The difference in break point conversion proved decisive — Droguet converted at a 75 percent rate, while Sakellaridis failed to convert a single one of the few opportunities he earned.
Sakellaridis powerless against relentless pressure
For Sakellaridis, who had reached a career-high ranking of No. 197 as recently as May 2026, this was a painful afternoon. The 21-year-old Athenian, who had claimed his first ATP Challenger singles title at the Delhi Open earlier that year, could find no answer to the Frenchman's aggressive game. Particularly telling were his 32 unforced errors — compared to just 12 from Droguet — which reflected his uncertainty throughout. Sakellaridis also saved only 25 percent of the break points Droguet created against him, while his return game remained toothless at just 24 percent of return points won.
A strong season as a springboard
Droguet's progression to the main draw came as no surprise. The 25-year-old from Villeneuve-Saint-Georges had entered qualifying seeded 22nd and had already produced impressive evidence of his development in 2026: a run to the semifinals in Montpellier — his first ATP semifinal appearance — along with a quarterfinal in Bucharest, backed by wins over top-50 players such as Roberto Bautista Agut and Sebastián Báez. He had also beaten Sakellaridis in straight sets at the ATP Challenger in Dublin in June, making their Cincinnati qualifying final only their second career meeting. Droguet now steps into the main draw of one of the most prestigious tournaments of the season — one of the last major hard-court showdowns before the US Open.
