Former world number one Novak Djokovic reached the Cincinnati Masters final for the sixth time with a semi-final victory over Marin Cilic.

Djokovic, who has never won the tournament, beat 2016 winner Cilic 6-4 3-6 6-3 in two and a half hours.

The Serb, seeded 10th, will play the winner of Saturday’s second semi-final between Roger Federer and David Goffin.

“It’s tough. I’m very pleased to reach the final once more here,” said the 31-year-old Wimbledon champion.

Victory in Sunday’s final would make Djokovic the first man to have won all nine Masters 1,000 tournaments.

“Hopefully I can get it done this time,” Djokovic said.

“It’s been a difficult week with rain delays and all that was happening. I’ve been down in my last three matches but I’ve come back.”

Djokovic won just eight points on his return in the first set of the semi-final, but breaking Cilic’s serve in the third game before twice saving break point gave him the momentum to take the early advantage.

Cilic controlled the second set, taking a 5-1 lead with two breaks before Djokovic momentarily came back into the set, but at 5-3 the Croat held to love to send the match into a decider.

The semi-final swung in Djokovic’s favour then, however, when he broke Cilic’s serve for 5-3 before serving for victory.

Seven-time Cincinnati champion Federer will meet Goffin not before 19:00 local time (00:00 BST).

• Live scores, schedule and results
• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone