One month on from Carlos Alcaraz’s astounding triumph at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic fought back from the brink of defeat to produce a statement victory in tennis’s great new rivalry as the two best players in the world demonstrated the full breadth of their resilience throughout a remarkable instant classic.
Despite struggling badly with the conditions, facing a championship point and then squandering four of his own, Djokovic recovered to win his third Cincinnati title by outlasting Alcaraz 5-7, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (4) in a battle that lasted three hours and 49 minutes.
