A month after the final at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic gave Carlos Alcaraz a taste of his own after another thrilling final at the Cincinnati Masters 1000. The world No. 2 beat No. 1 after 3 thrilling sets and match points each: 5-7, 7- 6 (9/7) and 7-6 (7/4). “My hat off to Alcaraz, what he can do at his age,” Djokovic praised.
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The two men’s tennis spells – also two generations – again made it a spectacle of no less than 3 hours and 49 minutes, the longest Best-Of-3 final on the ATP Tour. In the first group, 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz had the upper hand.
Although it was Novak Djokovic who took care of the first break – about love. But the Spaniard raised his level, served better (11 aces), immediately took the second break and broke again a little later, for 7-5.
It was tough against the softs, with Alcaraz clearly winning (42-28), although he also made some mistakes (22-20). He led 3-1 after the break, but Djokovic didn’t reveal himself and took his moments to the fullest.
He forced a tie-break and saved his skin on match point against 6/5 and forced the deciding set.
The stars are a bit fed up, Alcaraz the most. He hit no fewer than 5 double faults in the final set and also had to allow 13 break opportunities. Djokovic managed to make up for only one of them in the seventh game and ran 3-5.
That gave the Serbian 2 match balls on Alcaraz’s serve and two more on his own serve, but the first player found a gap somewhere and ran away.
The tiebreaker decided the match, remaining the same until 4/4, but then the spring was really broken in Alcaraz: 4/7. The fifth match ball was the best. Alcaraz hit.
Djokovic was so happy after the heroic victory that he tore his shirt and scattered. still counts.
2-2
This is Djokovic’s fourth win in the tournament this season. Earlier this year, he won in Adelaide and claimed 22 and 23 Grand Slam titles with his palms up with the Australian Open and Roland Garros, which now boasts a total of 95 titles.
In the duels between the two best players of the moment, the score is now 2-2. Alcaraz won last year in the semi-finals of the clay tournament in Madrid 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) and this year in the Wimbledon final 1-6, 7-6 (8). /6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. At Roland Garros, Djokovic held the young Spaniard out of the final 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
“I’ve never played so many matches like this in my life,” Djokovic said after the final. “I compare it to my final against Rafael Nadal at the 2012 Australian Open.” Then he beat that other Spanish jersey after 5 hours and 53 minutes, in 5 sets.
“My hats off to this boy. He plays very maturely and handles pressure very well for a 20-year-old. We can’t forget how young he is, and that makes it impressive.”
“When I play against Alcaraz, I feel like I’m back with Nadal in our glory years. Every point is a fight. You have to earn every point, every shot.”
Will it be Alcaraz’s turn again at the US Open? “It’s good to hear things like that from Novak, who’s played outstanding games. It means my team and I are doing well and we’re on the right track.”
In the ATP rankings, Djokovic is 20 points behind Alcaraz.
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