Top- ranked Roger Federer blew past World no. 2, Novak Djokovic, to win a record fifth Cincinnati title with an impressive 6-0 7-6 win in the Cincinnati Open final on Sunday.
Cincinnati Masters: Roger Federer defeats Novak Djokovic to clinch record 5th title
The final in itself was historic as it was the first time that the top two ranked played for the title.
The Swiss was in superb form and was clearly dominating as he held his serve throughout the match and did not face a single break point.
Federer tore Djokovic apart in the first set which took just 20 minutes.Djokovic looked out of sorts, hitting four double-faults in the first set and Federer took full advantage of them all to record his first 6-0 set against Djokovic in 28 meetings between the top two ranked players in the world.
The fans gave Djokovic a loud ovation when he held serve to open the second set. The Serb looked up at the crowd and smiled while sipping water.
It was in this set that the fans witnessed a top-class performance from both the players which the elegant Federer eventually won 9-7 in the tiebreak.
There were no service breaks in the second set as Djokovic finally found his touch but Federer’s exceptional backhand defense made for some entertaining rallies.
The Swiss missed out on match point in the tiebreak but made no mistake at the second attempt, a superb forehand winner putting an end to the contest.
Federer improved to 5-0 in Cincinnati finals and is now tied with Rafael Nadal for the most Masters titles with 21. Nadal dropped out of the tournament with a sore knee that has sidelined him indefinitely.
“A record break – always something special when that happens,” Federer said.
Djokovic won the Rogers Cup in Toronto last Sunday and was trying for his first win in Cincinnati, where he reached the finals last year but had to quit the title match against Andy Murray because of a sore shoulder.
This was Djokovic’s fourth unsuccessful appearance in the finals of this tournament.
Both reached the final in a dominating style – neither lost their serve or a set during the week. Federer held his 38 service games, facing only three break points. Djokovic held serve for 31 games, overcoming 10 break points.
Federer put an end to that right away.
“It’s obviously incredible because I remember the first few here I struggled. Now looking back it’s just unbelievable,” he said.
“Plus this was probably the best week ever here in Cincinnati for me – never dropping my serve and all that stuff and beating Novak in the final. This was very sweet, no doubt about it”.
Tags: Cincinnati, Cincinnati Masters, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Tennis
