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To
see tennis back on the world stage after close to six months of suspension is
brilliant and with that Novak Djokovic claimed his second Cincinnati Masters title
and the first since 2018.
The
world No.1 went two hours and three sets against Milos Raonic in a solid match
and even had to save a break point while serving for the title.
It
was a slow start for Djokovic who came back from a set down to defeat the
Canadian 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and in doing so scored his eleventh win from as many
matches against Raonic. He is the first top seed to win this title since Roger
Federer in 2012 and was in the final for the seventh time.
For
Djokovic it is his 35th ATP Masters 1000 title which ties him with
Rafa Nadal, and it was his 80th career title. His tally of career
titles puts him behind only Jimmy Connors 109, Roger Federer 103, Ivan Lendl 94
and Rafa Nadal 85. Incredibly, he has now won 23 matches from 23 matches in
2020.
The
guy's on-court supremacy is pretty amazing. He is the first and only player to
have won each of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments two or more times.
This
was a final that required Djokovic to dig deep. Not so much because he had lost
the first set so dramatically, but because during and after the semi-final
against Roberto Bautista Agut the day before, which was three hours, he was
quite unwell but probably even more crucially he has been distracted with
off-court matters over the previous couple of days.
"There's
been a lot of off-court things that I kind of had to be involved in directly or
indirectly. It was not easy, definitely, especially in the last three, four
days. Has been challenging mentally and emotionally for me to stay sane and be
able to compete on the highest level and win this title," Djokovic said.
"Was
a bit slow at the beginning, but I thought I did well, considering the form
that Milos is in. He has beaten some great players during this week. He's
serving rockets on the court, and it's really hard to return. You know, you
need all the freshness mentally and all the focus that you can possibly have.
So, I did struggle with that, I must say.
"It
was not the most ideal situation for me to kind of be competing in the last
four of a big tournament and have to deal with a lot of stuff off the court,
but those were the circumstances. I accepted them. I was fortunate to get the
title, obviously, but it's a great lesson learned."
Raonic
explained Novak did what Novak does so well when it came to the second set, "he
puts in a few more balls (and) he makes things a little more difficult". The
Canadian said he was initially stepping up, but he had some lapses and Djokovic
took advantage of the situation. Still, it was a big week for Raonic.
"I
know I have put in a lot of work in the last five, six months," he said. "I'm
happy tat I'm able to see the benefits of that quickly. I knew I could pay well
but I didn't know when things were going to come together for me. I was ready
to be patient with it, but I'm glad that first go at it has been pretty
positive for me."
The
doubles title was claimed by first time pairing, Australian Alex de Minaur, in
his first doubles final, teamed with Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta to upset Jamie
Murray and Neal Skupski 6-2, 7-5.
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