Novak Djokovic avenged his Wimbledon final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz by beating the Spaniard to win the Cincinnati Open.
Djokovic needed five match points and nearly four hours in his return to USA to pull off a gritty victory over Carlos Alcaraz and claim a third ATP Cincinnati Open title.
Former world number one who declined to be vaccinated against Covid-19, was playing his first US tournament in two years.
The Serb survived match point in the second set before going on to win 5-7 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-4).
Alcaraz however unleashed everything he had at the returning Djokovic but found it wasn’t enough to topple the 23 time grand slam champion.
It was another epic chapter to the rising rivalry between the 20-year-old world number one Alcaraz and the 36-year-old Serb star, who avenged his loss to the Spaniard last month in Wembley.
The two have now traded the world number one ranking six times this year and are now level on two wins apiece in their head to head rivalry.
Djokovic compared the draining win to his Australian Open final victory in 2012, when he defeated Rafael Nadal in five hours and 53 minutes.
He now has earned a record extending 39th victory at the elite Masters 1000 level.
Despite the defeat, Alcaraz will keep the world number one ranking for his US Open title defence.
However, Djokovic will return to the top of the rankings if he wins just one match at Flushing Meadows.
BBC Sports
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