D.Jokovic reached his eighth final on the Cincinnati cement, after knocking down Zverev 7-6(5) and 7-5 in a close match that lasted for two hours and four minutes. The Serb thus cut a streak of nine consecutive victories for the German in this tournament. With this victory, ‘Nole’ increased his record to 8-4 against Zverev, who had beaten him in the last match, in the 2021 ATP Finals.
It was a demanding semifinal, in which a tiebreaker was necessary to settle the first set, that Djokovic finally took 7-5 after one hour and thirteen minutes without breaks. In the second set, Djokovic got the break in the first game, but Zverev came back from it in the tenth to equalize 5-5.
However, the Serbian did not take long to react and achieved the ‘break’ in the following game, which opened the way for him to the final. The Serbian will play his eighth final in the tournament, in which he was champion in 2018 and in 2020, when the competition moved to New York due to the coronavirus pandemic, while losing the finals in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
This Sunday will be the day of the grand final against Alcaraz, a little more a month after the Murcian defeated him in the Wimbledon final.
Alcaraz has a 2-1 advantage in the precedents with the Serbian.They beat him in the semifinals of the Masters 1,000 in Madrid by 6-7(5), 7-5 and 7-6(5) in 2022, when he was crowned champion. This year,Djokovic won the Roland Garros semifinal 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 and 6-1, before surrendering 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final.
