Federer Sets Djokovic Blockbuster For Cincy Crown

He’s been the king of the ‘Queen City’ for more than a decade, and now Roger Federer is one win from reclaiming his Cincinnati throne.

Federer booked a blockbuster championship clash against Novak Djokovic after defeating David Goffin on Saturday at the Western & Southern Open. He moved past the Belgian when his opponent retired due to injury at 7-6(3), 1-1.

Facing Goffin for the first time since suffering a semi-final loss at last year’s Nitto ATP Finals, Federer restored order in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, which now stands at 7-1. Goffin stopped play after 63 minutes, with Federer serving at 1-1 40/30 in the second set. 

Federer extended a slew of Cincy streaks with the victory. He has now held serve in 96 consecutive service games and owns 14 straight match wins at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event. Moreover, the Swiss has claimed 17 of his last 18 sets played.

Few players have enjoyed the run of dominance that Federer has in Cincinnati. He enters the championship with a 7-0 record in finals. It marks the second Masters 1000 tournament in which he has reached eight title matches, along with the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

More to come…