Roger Federer Beats Novak Djokovic Ahead Of Us Open

Roger Federer warmed up for the US Open in the best possible fashion by beating the world number one Novak Djokovic in the final of the Cincinnati Masters on Sunday.

The Swiss, who has moved above Andy Murray to number two in the latest ATP world rankings, beat Djokovic 7-6 6-3 as he captured his 87th tour-level title and 24th at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 stage.

“Now I’ve got the confidence, I’ve got the matches, and I’m actually still feeling really fresh even after this week, because the matches have been rather short,” Federer said.

“I think I moved well. I was explosive moving forward. Volleys were good. I think from the baseline I was hitting my forehand very well.”

It was Federer’s seventh Cincinnati title having also triumphed in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014.

“I tried to really mix it up on his second serve and I was hoping to serve good enough myself to keep me out of trouble,” he added.

“He had that one bad game at the beginning of the second set, which made the difference in the match.”

Federer now leads Djokovic 21-20 on their career head-to-head.