The Grandstand’s Match of the Year: Novak Djokovic vs. Carlos Alcaraz, Cincinnati final

With the 2023 tennis season in the rearview mirror, it’s time to recap the best matches of the year on the ATP Tour. The third and final installment features the cream of the crop: the Cincinnati Masters final.

1) Novak Djokovic vs. Carlos Alcaraz, Cincinnati final

What could Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz do for an encore on the heels of their epic Wimbledon final? Well, they even managed to one-up themselves in a Western & Southern Open title match that was won by Djokovic 5-7, 7-6(7), 7-6(4) in three hours and 49 minutes. Yes, three hours and 49 minutes for a best-of-three match.

The tournament director, the media room, the fans, we all knew that you couldn’t ask for a better final than Djokovic vs. Alcaraz. What none of us guessed was that on that sweltering afternoon in southern Ohio was that we would be treated to the match of the year–by a lot.

For about five minutes in the second set, it seemed we were in for a straight-set win for Alcaraz. Djokovic inexplicably but just briefly wilted following the exertions of the first set. The Spaniard went up a break and looked to have the title locked away.

However, the title was very (VERY) far from either player’s grasp. By the time Alcaraz gifted the break back in the second with a diabolical service game, there was a moment of shared glee–the understanding that the two warriors were going to continue pummeling each other for our collective enjoyment. And pummel they did. Through a dramatic second-set tiebreaker and into the third set for almost four hours they pummeled. Through Djokovic serving for the match at 5-4, only to give the break back to Alcaraz. Through the championship point Djokovic saved on his own serve at 5-6. And through the 20-year-old’s own struggles with the heat.

Djokovic was the eventual winner, but I’ll go ahead and wax poetic: mostly tennis won. Oh, and for those of us fortunate enough to watch that in person? It was the match of a lifetime.

“It’s unbelievable,” Djokovic said. “From the beginning until the end we’ve both been through so much. So many ups and downs, highs and lows, incredible points, poor games, heat strokes, coming back. Just overall, one of the toughest and most exciting matches I was ever part of and these are the kinds of moments and matches that I continue to work for day in day out.”