Novak Djokovic Makes History with Western & Southern Open Title

Djokovic Strikes Gold in Cincinnati

By James Henry

(August 19, 2018) CINCINNATI — Novak Djokovic made history at the Western & Southern Open.

Defeating seven-time champion Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4 in the final, Djokovic became the first singles player to achieve the ATP World Tour’s Career Golden Masters.

The 31-year-old Serbian now has won the title at each of the nine different Masters 1000 tournaments.

“Definitely one of the most special moments in my career. Achievements, making history of the sport that I truly love is a great privilege and honor and something that I’ll be very proud of for the rest of my life,” he said.

A five-time runner-up in Cincinnati, Djokovic said his desire to snatch the missing trophy was positive motivation, rather than negative pressure.

“I was saying, you know, previously that during this week that obviously this trophy has been a motivation, big motivation for me. But at the same time I tried not to think about the pressure of really making history too much, because I have had already some failed attempts, three years ago with Roger, and coming into today’s match, I mean, wasn’t easy psychologically because I knew I lost to him every time I played him on this court. But, at the same time, I liked my chances, because I felt better and better as the tournament week was progressing,” he said.

“I felt that in the past when I had this particular, you know, circumstances in the tournament and matches where I come back, you know, from situations where I’m down a set and a break and I managed to win close matches, I usually come out semifinals or finals playing my best tennis.

“That’s something that I was hoping is going to happen again, and I believed that it will and it did. It was by far the best performance of the week.”