Novak Djokovic wins final against Milos Raonic tennisnet.com

Novak Djokovic he won the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament and moved from Cincinnati to New York. World’s number one defeated Milos raonic at 1: 6, 6: 3 and 6: 4. Djokovic has won all nine Masters tournaments at least twice.

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Raonic’s prospects before the final were not particularly good: For one thing, the Canadian had lost all previous matches against Novak Djokovic, most recently at the Australian Open in early 2020. And Raonic has never been the winner of a final of an ATP Masters. The 1000 tournaments are over.

On the flip side: While Raonic led a concentrated performance for a semi-final two-set win against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Djokovic had to battle Roberto Bautista Agut for three hours to prevail in the third round tie-break. Also plagued by neck pain, which had hampered the world number one in the start against Ricardas Berankis.

Milos Raonic starts offensive

Raonic started well and had a break ball in Djokovics’ first service game. Basically, you should take advantage of your few chances against the Serb, who remains undefeated this year. Otherwise, Novak Djokovic will strike back mercilessly. However, Raonic sought his salvation by fleeing forward, trying to shorten the rallies even more than usual. And he was rewarded in the fourth game. A backhand from Djokovic landed at the net, Raonic took the lead 3-1. And in this key he continued. After just 30 minutes, Raonic won the first set 6-1.

But of course it was clear that it would not be that easy for the often injured Raonic. Novak Djokovic is too strong, even if he does not enter the court one hundred percent. The favorite broke to 4: 2 in the second set, served without problems to 6: 3.

Djokovic fights back early

The decision began with a break from Raonic, but Djokovic immediately leveled. When the score was 2: 2, Raonic initially dodged two break opportunities, but then sank a forehand into the net. That was enough for Novak Djokovic, who served 6: 4 on his own serve after a playing time of about two hours, again after defending a break ball.

And so Djokovic, who started Monday at the US Open with the match against Damir Dzumhur, achieved his 80th win in a tournament, the 35th at the ATP Masters 1000 level, which he equaled with Rafael Nadal in this category. And put your yearly balance at 23 wins with zero losses. Milos Raonic, for his part, has to wait for the first Masters title. And about the first success against Novak Djokovic.

Read the match on the live ticker here.