NEW YORK - Novak Djokovic has become the first man to win each of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments at least twice, thanks to a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Milos Raonic at the Western & Southern Open in New York on Saturday.
The Serb, who is the only player to have competed the Career Golden Masters once already, extended his undefeated record this season to 23-0 and has now equalled Nadal's all-time record of 35 Masters 1000 titles won.
Djokovic, playing with neck pain all week, dropped the opening set in 31 minutes - which was just his third set lost to Raonic from 27 contested against the Canadian.
The world number one struck back to level the match and rallied from 0-2 down in the decider, taking four games in a row to forge a commanding lead and soon wrapped up his 11th win from 11 meetings with Raonic.
Wait for the 😘#CInCyTENNIS | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/8qdwD45C44
— Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) August 29, 2020
"I am proud of this achievement, especially the last three, four days I struggled a little bit with my physical condition but I managed to win this one through," said Djokovic, who has also been busy off-court rallying support for a new player association he is proposing to break away from the ATP.
"First set obviously he was playing great, I made some double faults, handed two breaks to him. It's always hard playing Milos, he has one of the best serves in the game, puts so much pressure on your service games, he steps in, he's going more for his shots from back of the court. So it was a very close encounter; up until the last shot it was anybody's game."
Earlier in the day, Naomi Osaka was forced to withdraw from her Western & Southern Open final citing a left hamstring injury.
The Japanese world No.10 was due to face Victoria Azarenka in the championship match but handed her Belarusian opponent a walkover instead.
Osaka's withdrawal gave Azarenka her first title since 2016, and her second at the tournament.
After her first title since 2016, we caught up with @vika7!#CInCyTENNIS | @wta pic.twitter.com/rGUWcWnaGq
— Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) August 29, 2020
Scheduled to play her US Open first round on Monday evening against her compatriot Misako Doi, Osaka has a quick turnaround ahead.
The former world number one explained that she felt pain in her hamstring after her first match of the tournament and that the injury was aggravated during her semi-final battle with Elise Mertens on Friday.
Osaka has had an eventful week both on and off the court in the lead-up to the US Open. She had initially withdrawn from her semi-final in protest over perceived police brutality and racial injustice - a decision that led tournament play to be paused on Thursday.
She took to the court for her match the following day before needing to withdraw from Saturday's final.
"Honestly I'm a bit stressed, but at the same time I feel like I have to keep forcing into my brain that I made the choice to come here, so I shouldn't be stressed about it and I should just be happy to be playing in the first place," admits Osaka.
"Of course I never want to lose in the first round [of the US Open], and I don't even want to have that thought in my head, but I know that's a possibility."
Azarenka was disappointed to miss out on a chance to face Osaka, having lost their most recent encounter at the French Open last year but is thrilled to secure her first trophy since returning from her maternity leave.
"It's pretty significant. It's my first title as a mom, so that makes it special," said Azarenka, who faces Austrian Barbara Haas in the US Open first round on Tuesday.
"I work hard to win matches, but I'm so much enjoying the process of playing and the battling that winning is like the bonus and winning a tournament is a bonus."
dpa