Cincinnati: Novak Djokovic finally clinched the title missing from his resume with a 6-4, 6-4 win Sunday over Roger Federer to win the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament and become the first player to complete the sweep of Masters series tournaments here.
Having made five previous finals and lost to Federer in three of them, Djokovic finally broke the ice to continue his stunning revival after a long comeback from elbow surgery.
The Wimbledon champion is the first to claim the Career Golden Masters, having won all nine titles in the elite series that began in 1990.
“Obviously it’s a very special moment to stand here for the first time with the winning trophy,” Djokovic said after defeating seven-time Cincinnati champion Federer.
“The hard times I went through, this seems a bit unreal to be back at this level and winning Wimbledon and obviously Cincinnati for the first time,” added the former World No.1.
Meeting Federer for the first in more than two years, Djokovic’s returning and dogged defence rattled the Swiss, whose serve had been impregnable throughout the tournament. He broke Federer to lead 4-3 in the first set, snapping his streak of 100 successive holds in Cincinnati.
Federer rallied early in the second set, breaking Djokovic to lead 2-0 but the Serb broke back and earned the decisive break for 4-3, curling a forehand pass down the line. Federer sent a forehand wide on the first match point to end the final.
Bertens stuns Halep
In the women’s final, Dutch surprise Kiki Bertens saved a championship point before going on to earn a shock triumph 2-6, 7-6(8-6), 6-2 over a fatigued World No.1 Simona Halep.
Bertens came back from the brink against Romania’s top seed in an exhausting second set tie-breaker, then won five of the final six games in the decider to lift the sixth and biggest title of her career.