Novak Djokovic’s Saturday night Cincinnati win over Alexander Zverev sets up a first-time hard-court showdown with world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
Novak Djokovic’s 7-6(5), 7-5 win over Alexander Zverev capped off a tidy run to the final of the Western & Southern Open for the 36-year-old. Djokovic has not dropped a set this week, although Zverev pushed Djokovic much harder than his previous opponents did. The first set was particularly competitive for the German. He had three break-point chances in Djokovic’s first service game but was unable to convert. Djokovic finally took the lead in the opening-set tiebreaker.
The world No. 2 came out of the blocks running in the second set, snagging an immediate break of serve to open the set. Djokovic got a bit tight serving for the match at 5-4 and he gave Zverev the break back, but it was a short-lived success for the underdog. Djokovic broke yet again and served it out without incident.
The win sets up a tantalizing final with current chief rival Carlos Alcaraz.
“Well, I mean, I guess it’s the ultimate challenge at the moment for me,” the Serb said of the world No. 1. “We faced each other in the last three events. Roland Garros, clay. Wimbledon, grass. Now hard court. It’s going to be the first encounter on a hard court. It’s a very good test prior to US Open. Obviously different conditions. Here best-of-three, US Open best-of-five. It’s still facing the top, top player of the world now who is in form. It’s the biggest challenge I could get, so I’m looking forward to it. Now it’s the best way to prepare for New York.”
Djokovic and Alcaraz will play the men’s final at 4:30 pm local time on Sunday afternoon.
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