Novak Djokovic did what no player has ever done before, winning his first title at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati to complete the ‘Career Golden Masters,’ by winning all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.
Djokovic took down Roger Federer, 6-4, 6-4, on Sunday, to improve to 24-22 in their storied rivalry and deny Federer his 99th career title and eighth in Cincinnati. The two hadn’t played since the 2016 Australian Open, and Djokovic’s latest triumph gives him 31 career ATP Masters 1000 titles, two shy of all-time leader Rafael Nadal’s 33.
In the women’s championship, Kiki Bertens took down No. 1 Simona Halep, 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-2, to win the biggest of her six career WTA titles and her first at a hard-court event. Bertens saved a match point in the second-set tiebreak to notch her 10th win over a Top 10-ranked opponent this year and improve her record in North America to 15-3 this year. Twenty-year-old Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka also had an impressive week, upending three seeded players to reach the semifinals.
The US Open Series concludes this week with the women’s Connecticut Open in New Haven and the men’s Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina. The Connecticut Open field features five Top-10 players, as well as Americans CoCo Vandeweghe and Danielle Collins. Americans in Winston-Salem include Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson, Taylor Fritz, Ryan Harrison and Tennys Sandgren.
ESPN’s family of networks will carry weeklong coverage from both tournaments. Early-round matches from New Haven and Winston-Salem will be delivered live on ESPN3 and stream live on the ESPN app. ESPN2 will pick up its coverage with Friday’s semifinals and will air Saturday’s finals, at 3 p.m. (New Haven) and 5 p.m. (Winston-Salem). See the full summer TV schedule here.