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Federer Sets Djokovic Blockbuster For Cincy Crown

  • Posted: Aug 19, 2018

Federer Sets Djokovic Blockbuster For Cincy Crown

Swiss is 7-0 in Cincinnati finals

He’s been the king of the ‘Queen City’ for more than a decade, and now Roger Federer is one win from reclaiming his Cincinnati throne.

Federer booked a blockbuster championship clash against Novak Djokovic after defeating David Goffin on Saturday at the Western & Southern Open. He moved past the Belgian when his opponent retired due to injury at 7-6(3), 1-1.

Facing Goffin for the first time since suffering a semi-final loss at last year’s Nitto ATP Finals, Federer restored order in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, which now stands at 7-1. Goffin stopped play after 63 minutes, with Federer serving at 1-1 40/30 in the second set. 

Federer extended a slew of Cincy streaks with the victory. He has now held serve in 96 consecutive service games and owns 14 straight match wins at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event. Moreover, the Swiss has claimed 17 of his last 18 sets played.

Few players have enjoyed the run of dominance that Federer has in Cincinnati. He enters the championship with a 7-0 record in finals. It marks the second Masters 1000 tournament in which he has reached eight title matches, along with the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

More to come…

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Cincinnati Masters: Simona Halep to play Kiki Bertens in final

  • Posted: Aug 19, 2018

World number one Simona Halep will play Kiki Bertens in the Cincinnati Masters final after easing past Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals.

Halep, 26, beat the Belarusian 6-3 6-4 to reach her second final in as many weeks.

Earlier in the day, Bertens, 26, defeated two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova for the second week in a row, winning 3-6 6-4 6-2.

“I know it is going to be a big challenge in the final,” said Halep.

The Romanian – who won the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada, last week – has reached the Cincinnati final on two previous occasions but never won.

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She broke early against Sabalenka, who beat three top 20 players en route to the last four, before breaking her opponent’s serve twice more to seal the opening set.

The top seed had to deny three break points in the second set as Sabalenka levelled at 4-4 but Halep progressed through to the final on her second match point.

“It was a tough match. She was serving big – it was 110mph every time,” said Halep.

“I was pretty strong and I just wanted to make her move as much as possible. I think I won this match because I was fighting until the end.”

Dutch player Bertens reached her third final of the season in defeating Czech world number six Kvitova, who she beat in the Rogers Cup third round in Montreal last week.

The world number 17 won the semi-final on her first match point, and victory on Sunday would mark only her second career title.

“It was a tough match, but I’m so glad to be in the final,” said Bertens.

“Over the last 12 months I’ve improved. We’ve put in a lot of work to get me more fit, to play more aggressively.

“It’s working out, I’m going for my shots and serves and keeping my nerves calm.”

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Djokovic beats Cilic to reach Cincinnati final

  • Posted: Aug 18, 2018

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).

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SF Preview: Federer Faces Goffin, Djokovic Meets Cilic

  • Posted: Aug 18, 2018

SF Preview: Federer Faces Goffin, Djokovic Meets Cilic

Four semi-finalists bidding to lift first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy this year

After an action-packed Friday in Cincinnati, the Western & Southern Open semi-finals look set to provide high-quality drama as the final North American ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the season reaches its climax.

Seven-time champion Roger Federer bids to extend his unbeaten streak in Cincinnati semi-finals (7-0) when he faces first-time semi-finalist David Goffin. Goffin defeated 6’8″ Kevin Anderson and 6’6″ Juan Martin del Potro on Friday to reach the final four.

Five-time runner-up Novak Djokovic is aiming to move one step closer to completing the Career Golden Masters by capturing the only ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title missing from his resume. Djokovic will face 2016 champion Marin Cilic, who is currently on a nine-match winning streak at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.

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Cilic vs Djokovic | Federer vs Goffin

 

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Meeting for the first time since a shock semi-final defeat at the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals, Federer and Goffin will meet for the eighth time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry (Federer leads 6-1). Having recovered from a set down to end Federer’s remarkable comeback season in London last year, Goffin will be aiming to record his second successive victory over the 37-year-old to reach his maiden Masters 1000 final.

Federer, on the other hand, will be looking re-establish control of the rivalry, having dropped just two sets in their opening six tour-level clashes. Federer is in pursuit of a record eighth Cincinnati crown and will be eager to reach his first Masters 1000 championship match since the BNP Paribas Open in March (l. to Del Potro).

After opening his career with a 1-4 record in Cincinnati, Federer has since won 44 of 48 matches at the Ohio-based tournament. The seven-time titlist has looked sharp in his first appearance since a quarter-final loss at Wimbledon to Kevin Anderson and is aiming to reach his sixth final of the season (3-2).

Coming into Cincinnati, Goffin had won just two of his seven most recent tour-level matches. But the Belgian has rediscovered his form this week with impressive victories over three Top 15 opponents, including World No. 3 Del Potro. Goffin will be looking to reach his first Masters 1000 final on his fourth attempt, having fallen at the final-four stage most recently at the 2017 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (l. to Nadal).

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Earlier in the day, Djokovic will hope to end a two-match losing streak against Cilic to reach his first Masters 1000 final since the 2017 Internazionali BNL d’Italia (l. to Zverev). Djokovic won the opening 14 matches in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Cilic, but has since lost both meetings against the 2016 Cincinnati champion. Since arriving at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in May, Djokovic has emerged victorious in 25 of his 29 tour-level matches.

But, despite his current form, the 13-time Grand Slam champion has been forced to work hard for his place in the semi-finals. Djokovic has been taken to a deciding set in three of his four matches this week, including his victories over defending champion Grigor Dimitrov and former World No. 3 Milos Raonic.

Cilic will be keen to carry the momentum of his dramatic victory over Djokovic in their most recent encounter at the Fever-Tree Championships in June. Cilic saved one championship point before lifting his second trophy at the prestigious grass-court event in London after two hours and 57 minutes.

Like Djokovic, Cilic has also been forced to play multiple three-set matches en route to the semi-finals. But the 29-year-old has also found his best tennis under pressure, building on an encouraging run to the Rogers Cup quarter-finals last week (l. to Nadal).

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