Mason, OH – Roger Federer prevailed in a battle between the world's top two ranked players, posting a 6-0, 7-6 (9-7) victory over Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final at the $2.825 million Western & Southern Open.
The top-seeded Federer fired eight aces on his way to becoming the first five- time winner in the Open Era at this event. He also titled in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010.
"It's great coming back here. I've been able to win five. It's obviously incredible because I remember the first few here I struggled," said Federer. "Now looking back it's just unbelievable. Plus this was probably the best week ever here in Cincinnati for me, never dropping my serve and all that stuff and beating Novak in the final. This was very sweet. No doubt about it."
Djokovic, on the other hand, lost in the final for the fourth time in five years. A sore shoulder forced him to quit in the Cincinnati final last year, giving the title to Andy Murray.
After the opening set lasted a mere 20 minutes, Djokovic battled back to force a tiebreak in a much more competitive second set. The second-seeded Serb went up 7-6, but an overhead smash by Federer evened the tiebreak. Federer then closed out the match with consecutive forehand winners.
Djokovic, who committed four of his five double faults in the sluggish first set, had his hard court winning streak snapped at 15 matches and was fresh off winning the Rogers Cup in Toronto last Sunday night.
Federer rebounded nicely from losing in straight sets to Murray in the gold medal match at the London Olympics two weeks ago. He did not drop a set in the tournament and went the entire week without having his serve broken.
"He was using it very efficiently and putting a lot pressure on my serve," said Djokovic, who wasn't able to force a single break point.
Federer captured his sixth title of the year and 76th of his illustrious career. He also tied Rafael Nadal for the most ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles with 21.
Sunday's triumph improved Federer's career record against Djokovic to 16-12, including a 4-3 mark in title matches.
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