It took Novak Djokovic five match points and over four hours to defeat Carlos Alcaraz to win the 2023 ATP Cincinnati Open for the third time in his illustrious career.
In the nail-biting encounter between the top two players in the world on Sunday, August 20, Djokovic triumphed in three sets with scores of 5-7, 7-6 (9/7), and 7-6 (7/4), despite looking to be out of breath in the second set.
The top-ranked 20-year-old Alcaraz and the 36-year-old Serb great, who avenged his five-set Wimbledon final defeat to the Spaniard last month, thrilled the spectators from start to finish.
In the heat of the encounter, Djokovic secured the first break of the opening set, giving him a 4-2 lead. However, Alcaraz broke back for a 6-5 advantage before Djokovic left the court for a seven-minute wardrobe change, and held on to the set victory.
Novak Djokovic needed assistance from the trainer and doctor in the second set because the hot weather was having an impact on him.
A drop shot by Alcaraz that Djokovic was unable to parry gave him a 4-2 edge after he broke to go down 2-1.
Nevertheless, the 23-time Grand Slam winner broke Alcaraz to draw the match at 4-4 and demanded a tiebreaker.
Djokovic saved a match chance at 5-6 and forced a third set after Alcaraz flubbed a shot into the net on his second set point.
Djokovic rushed to the locker room to change into a new attire while Alcaraz slouched down and violently banged his right hand on the sofa.
The Spaniard won the seventh game, which lasted nine minutes and had five break points but required medical attention afterward for a bandaged finger.
At the end of the back-and-forth encounter, Djokovic triumphed two games after failing to win a match-winning serve at 5-4 in what is termed the longest best-of-three-set final in ATP Tour history.
Novak Djokovic lifts the Cincinnati Open trophy on August 20, 2023.
After the victory, Djokovic said, “It’s crazy, I don’t know what I can say.
“It’s tough to describe. It was the toughest I’ve ever played in my life.
“From start to finish, we both went through highs, lows, incredible points, bad games, heatstroke, comebacks.
“Overall this was the toughest and most exciting match I’ve ever been a part of.
“It’s matches like these that I continue to work for.”
While Alcaraz said, “I feel proud of myself, honestly. I don’t know why I was crying because I fight until the last ball.
“I almost beat one of the greatest of all time in our sport. I left the court really happy with what I did.”
He added, “It was really, really difficult playing. Novak returns five, six, seven balls on every point.
“So fighting and running from one corner to the other one on every point is really tough to deal with for almost the whole match.
“I left everything on court. I’m working very well. But today, it was tough to deal with everything that Novak had.”
