Novak Djokovic continues to show that he is ready to fight on the big planes after beating Carlos Alcaraz in three dramatic sets 5-7, 7-6 and 7-6 in just over three hours and 45 minutes to crown himself in the Masters 1000 of cincinnati
The Spaniard, who will remain number 1 in the ATP ranking, met Nole again in a grand final, like the one they staged at Wimbledon at the beginning of the year, but the result was very different.
Alcaraz started from less to more, fighting each point as if it were the last against a Djokovic who never lost concentration despite seeing the score come back.
Willing to suffer, the 20-year-old tennis player took the first set to the final consequences, but took advantage of the Serb’s wear and tear to bag the first roll.
Djokovic, at the beginning of the second chapter, began with discomfort, for which he was treated by the medical staff, accusing the heat, but continued in the match against Alcaraz who failed to trust the veteran, who put him to the test in everything moment.
Although his start was very strong, the Spaniard was giving up key points against Nole, with errors in the net and losing long points, while the Serb kept his cool to try to come back from 4-2 against, in addition to sending the chapter to a 6-6 that defined everything in a tie-break.
After this tiebreaker was even, Nole seized the second roll after two set points to extend the match to a dramatic third set.
In this set, both protagonists showed their best tennis, although the fatigue began to weigh, after an exhausting match that exceeded three hours on the center court in Cincinnati.
But the experience prevailed over the youth in a brutal demonstration of physical condition by both athletes and in the end Nole took the victory in a tie break that seemed endless, although in the end they all succumbed to the power of Djokovic.
With this, the Serbian reaches three wins, which equals Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras with the same number of wins.