Novak Djokovic Recalls ‘Roller-Coaster-Like’ Cincinnati Final Against Carlos Alcaraz Ahead of Return

Novak Djokovic will soon be seen in action. He is in Cincinnati for the seventh Masters 1000 of the season, the main draw of which has already gotten underway.

Djokovic will be competing here for the first time since 2023. That year, he ended the tournament in his favor, winning his third title by overcoming Carlos Alcaraz 5–7, 7–6(9–7), 7–6(7–4). Djokovic considers that match one of his best wins in a Masters 1000 tournament.

One of the top, I’d say, top three finals that I’ve played, best of three sets in Masters events, no doubt… Just incredible, thrilling, exciting, roller-coaster-like, like the park-next-door type of ride of a match. I think almost four hours [we] played in the sun; we played in the shade, we ended up almost in evening hours.

After that win, Djokovic lifted his record-extending 40th Masters 1000 title in Paris the same year. But since then, he has yet to clinch a title at this level. Djokovic, however, has made two finals, including at the Miami Open last year, losing that match to Jakub Mensik.

It was really anybody’s game; I had match points and then came back and tie-break, really nerve-wracking for both of us, and we gave it all. So that was the last time I actually played in this tournament three years ago, when I won the title, so exciting to be back.

Novak Djokovic added

Djokovic will play his third Masters 1000 of the season, following the Indian Wells Masters and the Italian Open, where his run ended in the fourth and opening rounds, respectively. He will be facing Thiago Agustin Tirante in the ongoing event.

Outside these events, Djokovic played only the first three Grand Slam events. He made the final of the Australian Open after defeating two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner. In the final, Alcaraz upset him and became the youngest man in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam.

The Serb was last seen in action in the semifinals of Wimbledon, losing to Sinner in straight sets. Djokovic last won a tour-level title at the 2025 Hellenic Championship.

Alexander Zverev lauds Novak Djokovic for his Wimbledon run

Before his defeat to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals of Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic won a marathon quarterfinal against Felix Auger-Aliassime that lasted five hours and 15 minutes. He lost to Sinner pretty easily.

Days later, he admitted he did not fully recover before the Sinner match. The Italian ace, in the final, beat Alexander Zverev and defended his title. Zverev, at the pre-tournament press conference in Cincinnati, praised the 39-year-old for his run at SW19.

Of course, at some point – and I think he is the first to admit it, and he admitted it at Wimbledon – it becomes difficult to play best-of-five matches against the best back-to-back, which I think is very, very normal. To be out there for five and a half hours and win those kind of matches is an unbelievable effort. But you have to come back two days later and play the world number one or two, and I think that’s a difficult task at 39 years old, and it would be a difficult task for anybody.

Zverev is a former Cincinnati champion, winning in 2021, while last year his run ended in the semifinals. He, in fact, made the semifinals in the last three seasons.

Zverev will be chasing his second Big Title of the season. After losing the Madrid Open final to Sinner, Sascha overcame Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final, winning his career’s first Grand Slam title.

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