Cincinnati Masters 2018: Novak Djokovic makes tennis history
With his success at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, Novak Djokovic was able to set a unique record in tennis.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Aug 19, 2020, 09:17 am
If you remember the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati in 2018: The match between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer did not have to offer much drama. In the end there was a solid 6: 4, 6: 4 success for Djokovic, which, however, was of outstanding importance in terms of tennis history: The Serb was the first player to win all 1000 titles awarded on the tour at least once.
In Cincinnati, the last outstanding bill on his list, Djokovic needed six finals. He was inferior to Federer three times and Andy Murray twice (against whom he had to give up in the 2011 final in the second set due to injury). Compared with the other two members of the Big Three, Djokovic is clearly ahead of the game: Federer is still missing the titles in Monte Carlo and Rome (at both tournaments the Swiss was already in the final), Nadal has not been able to get into Enter Miami (despite several finals) and Shanghai in the winners' lists.
Djokovic with little match practice
Two years after his historic triumph, Novak Djokovic is extremely relaxed and arguably a big favorite in the 2020 edition of Cincinnati. Also because the tournament will be played at the National Tennis Center in New York this year - on courts that are not considered to be as fast as those in Cincinnati. And also because the industry leader has already won 18 matches and lost none this year.
Federer and Nadal will be absent, many players will compete with almost no match practice. Djokovic himself has playfully held back after the now almost legendary Adriatic Tour, in contrast to Dominic Thiem or Matteo Berrettini, who had recently shown themselves in Berlin.
So more than in previous years, Cincinnati could become a gauge of who does well at the US Open. Especially since the list of winners in the state of Ohio has five different names in the past five years: In 2019, Daniil Medvedev won the final against David Goffin and then reached the final in New York. The year before, Djokovic took his swing with him from Cincinnati and won the title in Flushing Meadows.
Dimitrov, Cilic, Federer win in Cincinnati
In 2017 Grigor Dimitrov celebrated his biggest career success to date in Cincinnati, but lost a few days later in New York in round two against Andrey Rublev. Marin Cilic, in turn, won his first and only 1000cc title in Cincy in 2016, but had to admit defeat to Jack Sock as defending champion at the US Open in round three.
And Roger Federer's 2015 final victory against Novak Djokovic in the subsequent major did not help much: The current world number one returned the favor on the maestro with a four-set win in the final of the US Open.