Andy Murray will lose his No 2 world ranking to Roger Federer, making the Scot’s potential draw at the US Open next week that much harder, after the Swiss beat Novak Djokovic 7-6, 6-3 to win the Cincinnati Masters title last night.
Murray, who beat Djokovic to claim the Montreal Masters 1000 event the previous week, will return to No 3 for Flushing Meadows. Federer’s 90-minute victory last night means that the 34-year-old will be seeded second, behind Djokovic, in New York.
Federer, who had beaten Murray in straight sets in the semi-finals, claimed his 87th career ATP title and his 24th trophy in a Masters 1000 event. Djokovic was thwarted in his attempt to become the first man to win all nine of the elite Masters titles as he endured his fifth final defeat at Cincinnati, the lone Masters missing from his resume.
Federer playing his first tournament since falling to Djokovic in the Wimbledon final last month, did not face a break point against the Serb. His superiority was clear in the tie-break, when his variety of shots included an aggressive return on selected second serves, in which he advanced almost to the service line to surprise the 28-year-old. He did not drop his serve all week and moved ahead of Djokovic 21-20 in their head-to-head series.
“I think we really get the best out of each other,” Federer said. “We’ve improved a lot over the years playing each other.”