Roger Federer secured victory and denied Novak Djokovic a little bit of history with an exquisite performance in the final of the Cincinnati Masters Sunday.
The Serb was hoping to become the first singles player to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles.
But a stunning show from the 17-time grand slam-winning FedEx at the Lindner Family Tennis Center ensured it was he who would instead extend his own record of victories at the prestigious Cincinnati event to seven.
The Swiss, who now moves back to number two in the world, took just one hour and 30 minutes to win 7-6 (7/1) 6-3 in the afternoon heat.
Although Federer broke Djokovic only once, he always looked the more comfortable of the pair on serve and was dominant in the first set tie break.
“I tried to really mix it up on his second serve and I was hoping to serve good enough myself to keep me out of trouble,” Federer said when speaking with ESPN post match.
“He had that one bad game at the beginning of the second set, which made the difference in the match.
Incredibly, the triumph marks the 87th ATP Tour win of Federer’s trophy-laden career.
Djoko’s Cincinnati hex
By comparisson, Djokovic will now have to wait until next year to try and overcome his Cincinnati hoodoo.
Sunday’s result means the World No 1. has lost in the final of the Ohio tournament five times in his career, including twice previously to Federer in 2009 and 2012.
“I knew coming into the match he was going to be aggressive. So, I tried to handle it,” Djokovic said.
“I did well until the tie-break in the first set. After that, he was just the better player.”
Both men will travel to New York to take part in the year’s final major at the U.S. Open which begins on August 31.
Federer’s victory means he will now likely be seeded second at that event while also edging him 21-20 ahead of Djokovic in their career head-to-head.
