Uncertainty is the optimum word that has defined the last six months and for a long time this was true within the tennis world as well. Months of the season were shed as sport took a rightful backseat in the face of an unprecedented global health crisis. Yet on June 17th, the ATP issued a revised calendar intending to begin in Washington exactly two months later. This event was eventually also cancelled, but inside a bio-secure bubble at the Billie Jean National Tennis Centre in New York, the Western & Southern Open was able to take place. There were a few absentees from the draw; players such Wawrinka, Monfils, Fognini and most notably Rafael Nadal deciding to abstain from the curtailed US hard-court swing (including the US Open) and instead remain in Europe for the rapidly approaching and belated clay section of the year.
No Nadal and no Federer (the Swiss wisely deciding now might be a good time to have surgery on a right knee problem) naturally meant world number 1 Novak Djokovic was the overwhelming favourite to take the title and become the first ever player to have won each Masters 1000 event twice. It’s pretty mind-boggling stuff – as was the level of his play at times as he did indeed capture his second Cincinnati crown. His most impressive performances came in Round 3 and the quarters-finals; sweeping aside the considerable challenges of first Tennys Sandgren (quarter-finalist at this year’s Australian open) and then Jan-Lennard Struff, who had put together an impressive start to the year before the pandemic and had just come off the back of beating 7th seed David Goffin. Djokovic lost just 10 games collectively in these two matches and the ease with which he could manage these two playing near their best capacity was scary to watch at times. However, by no means was it all smooth sailing for the Serb. Historically, matchups with the dogged and combative Roberto Bautista Agut had not been overly favourable to him – losing lengthy three-set clashes twice to the Spaniard in Doha and Miami early last year. If truth be told, it really should’ve been a third time here. There were a few early signs that Djokovic was not quite feeling it: he consistently struggled for timing on his backhand through the first set and his second serve speeds were averaging between 80-90mph (an uber confident Djokovic, as he was in his first two matches, was operating around the 100mph mark). Having been broken serving for the second set at 5-3, he was perhaps a tad fortunate that they decided to close the roof in the immediate aftermath to this, seemingly disturbing Bautista Agut’s rhythm sufficiently that he was broken straight back to lose the set 6-4. The final set was an incredibly topsy-turvy affair; Djokovic going from the sublime to the ridiculous at times as he fluctuated from a 5-2 lead to staring defeat in the face. Yet, he couldn’t not allow his superiority to reign, and the fact that he served three aces in his first three service points of the tiebreak (alongside a couple of stunning returns) when he’d been struggling for serving consistency throughout the entire match is indicative of how the best always play their best at the best time.
Djokovic’s challenger in the final turned out to be Canadian Milos Raonic. Since reaching a career high of number 3 in 2016, Raonic had endured a seriously injury-hit three year period that had blighted his ambitions for major advancements in his career. In fact the Canadian hadn’t won a title on the ATP Tour since Brisbane at the start of that year, but had shown promising signs of a resurgence in 2020 with a quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open. It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that Raonic has little more to his game than a mammoth first serve, but this week he showed that there are a lot more strings to his bow. The consistency and penetration of his forehand was crucial in securing straight set wins over Murray and Tsitsipas and the aggressiveness of his fighting spirit and mental strength was evident in the way he fought back from the brink in his quarter-final clash with Filip Krajinovic. Given the wretched head-to-head Raonic had going into his final against Djokovic (0-10), it was surprising to say the least to see him bulldoze the first set 6-1. Again though, like the mini-stretch of the third set against Bautista Agut, Djokovic did show his propensity for less-than-average tennis, especially regarding his serving rhythm. You always had the feeling Raonic had to get the job done in straight sets; any form of parity in terms of the scoreline would inevitably see Djokovic come out victorious. The Serb went back to basics in terms of just trying to prolong the rallies and take the ball outside of Raonic’s comfort zone, and some inconsistencies on the forehand from the Canadian was all it took. If the forehand issues were a problem, a loss of flow on serve was catastrophic for Raonic; his failure to repeatedly hit his spots on the first deal playing right into Nole’s hands in the deciding set. The concerning aspect for the rest of tour is that Djokovic was probably operating around 75-80% of his level over the last two matches, and even during moments of adversity in them, there was very little doubt that he would find a way to get through. Notwithstanding the stoppage, Djokovic picked up as if he’d never been away; now amassing 23 straight wins in 2020. Rarely has there been such an inordinate favourite going into a major tournament – I will eat my proverbial hat if Djokovic doesn’t make it 18 Grand Slam titles in two weeks’ time.
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