Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz played a truly epic final at the Cincinnati Masters, one the Serbian compared to his legendary 2012 Australian Open match against Rafael Nadal.
This match will certainly be remembered as an iconic one. A best-of-three match that lasted almost four hours saw Novak Djokovic win the Cincinnati Masters. It was a fantastic match that had it all, crazy rallies, crazy points, unexpected twists and Djokovic ripping his shirt in half after winning it.
Such was the emotion for the Serbian, who certainly had a lot of it built up following the Wimbledon defeat to Alcaraz. It was tricky to gather all his thoughts after the match, but Djokovic tried. He admitted that there weren't many matches like the one he played to win his 39th ATP Masters 1000 title.
It's crazy match that we've been through today. Roller coaster of a match, to be honest. I don't think I've played too many matches like this in my life. Maybe I can compare it to Nadal finals in Australian Open 2012 that went the distance. Obviously three sets today, but almost four hours.
It was a match where Alcaraz seemed on track to win it comfortably. The Spaniard held a break in hand in the second set but allowed Djokovic to steal away that set. He wasn't very happy a had a very emotional outburst on the tennis court.
He did amazingly in the final set to fight back when he seemed on the ropes. In the end, it was Djokovic who prevailed.
I thought the third set I had many chances, maybe even for double break. The match point at 5-3 was unbelievable (smiling). It was kind of a showcase of what this whole match was about, that match point saved from him.
Yeah, just one of the most exciting and toughest mentally, emotionally, physically matches that I've ever had in my career.
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