Tennis legend Roger Federer made a way to Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati. The Serbian player completed a matched set of Masters 1000 titles Sunday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Swiss athlete in the final, TennisOnline reported.
The unbelievable former world No1 became the first man to win all nine of the ATP’s elite Masters 1000 events since the ATP was formed in 1990. On Sunday, Federer lost a final in the hardcourt US Open tuneup for the first time. Earlier, he won seven Cincinnati prizes, additionally, his streak of 100 straight unbroken service games in Cincy was ended by Djokovic in the seventh game of the first set.
The 37-year-old Swiss had been aiming for a 99th career trophy, but was unable to get over the line due in part to four double-faults at the most inopportune of times.
“It’s been a roller-coaster week,”
Djokovic joked to Federer at the trophy presentation. The Cincinnati winner confessed he didn’t play his best tennis today, but he managed despite the lengthy rain interruptions. The Serb now leads Federer 24-22 and has won their last three encounters.
Federer-Djokovic: a history of their matches
The pair Djokovic-Federer had not played since the 2016 Australian Open semi-finals more than two and a half years ago. The Serb claimed the opening set in 37 minutes and came back from an early break in the second to overhaul his longtime rival as they played for the 46th time.
Federer started the match with three aces in the opening game, then added a pair of love games for a 3-2 lead. But it began to unravel as the Swiss double-faulted to yield a breakpoint, dropping serve as Djokovic moved ahead 4-3.
Djokovic took advantage for a 5-3 lead and closed out the set after 37 minutes. Federer broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set but gave the break back immediately as he double-faulted to give Djokovic a break point which the Serb promptly converted.
Djokovic broke again to lead 4-3, and after Federer held to close the gap to 4-5 Djokovic ended the afternoon in the next game on his first match point.
