Cincinnati Masters Highlights: A Wimbledon final rematch is in the cards at the Cincinnati Masters 2023 after Novak Djokovic defeated Alexander Zverev in the Cincinnati semi-finals on Saturday. The 36-year-old overcame Zverev 7-6(5), 7-5 in a baseline slugfest under the lights at the ATP Masters 1000 event, where the 23-time major champion Djokovic will next clash against World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz for a fourth time (1-2).
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“In very few of [Sascha’s] service games where I had chances, I think I played well, particularly five-all [after] he broke my serve to stay in the match,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “I managed to bounce back, played a great game to break him again and seal the deal in the 12th game of the second set.
“I’m pleased. I think there’s a few things I could’ve done better, but overall it’s a straight-sets win against a great player in form, so I’m really happy.”
In Djokovic and Zverev’s first meeting since the 2021 ATP Finals, both players brought a high level throughout the semi-final. An entertaining opening set featured Zverev surviving a 10-minute service game at 4-5 and later forcing a tie-break, where second seed Djokovic found greater consistency from his groundstrokes, converting his sixth set point to gain an advantage.
After being broken while serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, the 94-time tour-level titlist quickly recovered to earn a break of his own, closing the two-hour, four-minute contest in his ensuing service game. Djokovic lost just two points behind his first delivery in the second set and struck the ball with depth to improve to 8-4 in his Lexus ATPHead2Head series with the two-time ATP Finals champion.
With his 1,068th career match win, Djokovic moves into equal third place with Rafael Nadal and Ivan Lendl for most career victories, trailing only Roger Federer (1,251) and Jimmy Connors (1,274).
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