Superstar can hardly believe it
Djokovic wrestles Alcaraz in epic final
8/21/2023 6:06 am
Carlos Alcaraz against Novak Djokovic, the world number one against the world number two: The final at the Masters in Cincinnati lived up to all expectations and even made it into the record books. Superstar Djokovic is completely cheered up after the win.
In an intense final, Novak Djokovic defeated tennis world number one Carlos Alcaraz and won the ATP tournament in Cincinnati. A week before the start of the US Open, the Serb won 5: 7, 7: 6 (9: 7), 7: 6 (7: 4) after 3:49 hours. Only the fifth match ball for Djokovic brought the decision. Alcaraz also fended off 13 of 16 breakballs against himself. There hasn’t been a longer best-of-three final on the ATP tour since 1990.
“It was one of the most exciting matches I’ve ever played at any tournament,” said the 36-year-old Serb, who tore his shirt and yelled loudly after congratulating Alcaraz. “It felt like a Grand Slam.” Djokovic has now won 95 tournaments in his career and has replaced Ivan Lendl in third place on the leaderboard. In the final of the WTA Tour, Coco Gauff won 6:3, 6:4 against Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic. The 19-year-old US player is the first teenager to win the Western & Southern Open in more than 50 years.
As in the Wimbledon final, Alcaraz and Djokovic fought a big fight at temperatures well above 30 degrees Celsius – this time with the better end for the record major champion, although he was visibly upset in the great heat in the second set . In the tie-break he fended off a match point when the score was 5:6 and forced the third round.
For Djokovic, the dress rehearsal before the US Open was the first tournament in the USA since the final defeat in Flushing Meadows two years ago. Since then he has not been active in the country because he was not allowed to enter the country due to the regulations to combat the corona pandemic.