Novak Djokovic Battles Past Milos Raonic to Create History at the Western and Southern Open 2020

The World No.1 Novak Djokovic defeated Milos Raonic to lift the Western and Southern Final 2020 title. Djokovic won the match 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to win a record 35th ATP Masters 1000 tournament. The 17-time grand slam champion won his second Cincinnati Masters and is the favorite to win the US Open 2020.

Raonic broke Djokovic’s serve early in the opening set to go 3-1 up. The Canadian broke the World No.1 again during Novak’s third service game and powered his way through the first set 6-1.  Raonic hit 8 blistering winners to wrap up the first set in 31 minutes.

Novak Djokovic looked visibly bogged down because of nagging neck pain which hampered his service game. The Serbian committed 4 double faults in the first set and just managed to get 47% of the first serves in.

The second set began with both players holding their first two service games. Djokovic broke Raonic’s third service game by hitting a great forehand down-the-line to go 4-2 up. Novak Djokovic’s serve improved dramatically during the second set as he went on to hold a tough service game at 5-3 to push the match into the deciding set.

Raonic won the opening game of the third set and broke Djokovic’s serve to take a 2-0 lead. The World No.1 made an exceptional cross-court return in Raonic’s second service game to gain three breakpoints. The Serbian went on to level the deciding set 2-2 and broke Raonic again by converting the third breakpoint. Despite having a tough week due to a sore neck, Djokovic displayed exquisite footwork to gain a 4-2 lead in the third set.

Djokovic went on the win the title comfortably in the third set and has now won each ATP Masters 1000 twice in his career.

Novak Djokovic extends his winning streak

Djokovic has now won all his eleven meetings against Milos Raonic. The reigning Australian Open champion extends his winning streak to 23 wins this year. As the US Open starts on Monday, Djokovic is eyeing a record 18th grand slam title.