In great difficulty in the first set after his physical alerts the day before in the semifinals, Novak Djokovic overcame Milos raonic (1-6, 6-3, 6-4) to retain his title in Cincinnati this Saturday. Before starting the US Open on Monday.
The world number 1 Novak Djokovic, still undefeated in 2020, won for the second time in his career the Masters 1000 from Cincinnati – relocated to New York because of the coronavirus – by beating in the final this Saturday the Canadian Milos Raonic (1-6 , 6-3, 6-4).
Two records before the US Open
The Serbian, more than ever the favorite of the US Open which begins Monday at Flushing Meadows, joins Rafael Nadal as the record holder for the number of Masters 1000 victories, with 35 titles. And he is the first to have won at least twice each of the nine tournaments in this category.
Something to delight him, but not to the point of being sated: his primary goal, after six months without tennis, coronavirus obliges, will obviously be to add an 18th Grand Slam title in two weeks at the US Open, where he will s ‘has already been imposed three times, to get closer to Nadal (19) and Roger Federer (20) both packages for the event.
The planets therefore seem to be aligned for “Nole”. He concluded his week of preparation on concrete perfectly by respecting the logic against Raonic. The 30th in the world has never beaten him, in 11 confrontations. The Canadian, however, was not unworthy. With his overpowered and very precise serve, he was quick to remove the first set in half an hour, also taking advantage of many unforced errors (4 double faults) from his opponent, clearly not in the game.
More alerts
Then resurfaced the images of the day before, those of a “Djoko” who was not on his plate when he concluded his half against the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, and complaining of the stomach, after having had to involve the physiotherapist to manipulate his neck in the middle of the second set. The Serb had contracted the Covid-19 in June as part of the Adria Tour, a charity tournament in the Balkans that he organized without physical distancing and which drew criticism. On the Louis-Armstrong court, however, he did not seem physically borrowed in the final, despite the grueling three hours spent the day before.
He just had to get into his match, which he did by taking the serve from Raonic, on his first break point at 4-2, and pushing him to a third set in which the Canadian reacted well. entry, breaking to lead 2-0. His hopes of finally defeating the one who had beaten him every time in their first ten confrontations quickly vanished.
23 wins in a row
Djokovic immediately recovered, first by sharp returns of service, then by imposing longer rallies on Raonic, to line up four games in a row (4-2). After clearing a 5-4 break point thanks to a huge defense punctuated by a new angry cry, “Djoko” closed the case to win his 23rd consecutive game this season and pocket the 80th title of his career. In 48 hours, he will begin his US Open campaign in a night session, against the Bosnian Damir Dzumhur (107th world).
