Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in the final of the 2018 Cincinnati Masters to become the first man ever to complete a full suit of Masters titles.
Ranked 10th in the world after enduring a run of form that had seen him not win a single Grand Slam for over two years, Djokovic looked to have regained his touch as he followed up his Wimbledon win earlier this year with this Cincinnati Masters title.
He registered a relatively easy 6-4, 6-4 win over Federer to complete his full set of four Grand Slam and nine Masters titles – a feat not even the greats of the game, Federer and Nadal have achieved so far.
And he said about his win over Federer, an opponent who has often beaten him in tournament finals: “I’ve played five finals before and most of those I’ve lost to this great man. Thank you Roger for letting me win once here!”
Djokovic won the title on the back of three breaks against Federer in the final, and the Serb called it his best performance of the week after having struggled through few of his matches. In fact, since his second round win over Steve Johnson, he had needed three sets to win all his remaining matches before this final.
He defeated Adrian Mannarino after losing the first set, then beat Grigor Dimitrov, the fifth seed, in a similar way in three sets, overcame Canadian Milos Raonic in the quarter-finals before being stretched by the seventh seeded Marin Cilic in the semis.
The Serbian former world number also reminded why it was so special to beat Federer in the final: “Federer is the most dominant player in the history off this tournament, he has won it seven times and beaten me in three finals.”
Djokovic, as a result, did admit, that despite having a 23-22 overall head to head record against Federer, he was nervous heading into this final.
A dream come true ??@CincyTennis #GoldenMasters pic.twitter.com/nb9XL7nw2W
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) August 20, 2018
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