WATCH: Carlos Alcaraz arguably wins the point of the tournament as he defends match point against Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati Masters finals

Alcaraz hit a stunning forehand passing shot.

WATCH: Carlos Alcaraz arguably wins the point of the tournament as he defends match point against Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati Masters finals

Novak Djokovic (Up) and Carlos Alcaraz (Down) (Image via Ope source)

It would have been greedy to ask for anything better than this for a Masters 1000 final. The two best players in the world were on show and both displayed tennis at its very best in Mason Ohio at the Cincinnati Masters.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 2 Novak Djokovic are 16 years apart, with the former being 20 and the latter being 36. There was a plethora of great points, but one in particular in the final set stole the show.

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It couldn’t have come at a better time. The young Spaniard was match point down as he was serving to stay in the contest. Alcaraz was serving at 3-5 down and that’s when Djokovic brought up a match point for himself. Alcaraz went for the body serve as Djokovic came up with an equally solid return. Both players were in a tussle till Alcaraz came up with a tricky drop shot.

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This was to bring Djokovic close to the net. Djokovic reached and almost hit a backhand winner, but Alcaraz managed to put the ball back in. Djokovic himself then went for the cross court drop. However, the young Spaniard reached and hit a fabulous passing shot. There was hardly any margin of error. But he aced it superbly. No better time to do it than when he was match point down. However, Djokovic stayed focused. Despite losing his next service game, the Serb made sure he takes the match in a final set tie breaker.

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Djokovic fights missed match point pressure to beat Alcaraz and take Wimbledon revenge

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (Image via ATP Tour)

The first set saw both players being neck to neck till 5-5. It was at that moment that Djokovic allowed Alcaraz to have a look in. It was a chance the Spaniard simply couldn’t pass up. He took it with both hands as he won the set 7-5. The second set was once again tight, with Djokovic forcibly pushing this one into a tie break.

The tie break too went to 7-7 and this time it was Alcaraz who, for the first time in the match, showed any ‘off’ signs. The Serb pounced on that to take the second set. The final set was tricky. However, Djokovic got the crucial early break and Alcaraz had to serve at 3-5 to stay in the match.

Djokovic had a match point. However, Alcaraz, with a phenomenal passing shot, saved it and then broke Djokovic’s serve as well to level the match at 5-5. Both players took this into a tie break as well. It was Djokovic who was mentally tougher when it mattered and won the tiebreaker.

An absolute epic Masters 1000 final and it went the experienced pros way. The match lived up to its hype. Djokovic eventually beat his nemesis and bounced back from a set down. Both men will be more than looking forward to facing off in the US Open as well as the head-to-head matches at two matches a piece.

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