By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, August 22, 2015
Two points from defeat, Novak Djokovic roared back for a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov to reach his 10th straight final and fifth career Cincinnati final.
Photo credit: Western & Southern Open
An aching irritability afflicted Novak Djokovic at the one Masters tournament he hasn't mastered.
The world No. 1 was stung by a strained stomach muscle, barked at his box in frustration over his unruly backhand and for most of two sets he couldn't find an antidote for the headaches Alexandr Dolgpolov posed.
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Two points from defeat in the second-set tie break, Djokovic dug in, battered his opponent's backhand, drained his legs and delivered another strong closing kick.
Answering every challenge—including a visit from the trainer to treat an apparent abdominal strain— Djokovic rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory to roar into his 10th consecutive final in Cincinnati.
"I don't think I played too good, but credit to Alex for playing some aggressive tennis with a lot of variety," Djokovic told ESPN's Brad Gilbert immediately after the match. "He was very close to winning this match and if he would win, it would be deserved. I was fortunate to stay tough and fight and kind of pull it out."
Continuing his quest to become the first man to collect all nine Masters championships, Djokovic will face either defending champion Roger Federer or third-seeded Andy Murray in tomorrow's final. The world's top two have split 40 career matches; Murray defeated Djokovic in a high-quality Montreal final last week to claim his second straight Masters crown.
The dog fight of the first semifinal followed a similar script to Djokovic's 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-0 comeback victory over Dolgopolov in Miami last March right down to Dolgpolov again taking treatment for both feet simultaneously.
The soles can take a battering trying to stay in step with Djokovic. But for much of the match, Dolgopolov played controlled, creative tennis to stay one step ahead.
Unleashing his fast-action serve and flattening out his forehand with both varying depth and direction, Dolgopolov hurt Djokovic with the drop shot. It's unusual to see Djokovic beaten by a drop shot and rarer still to see him fooled so thoroughly he stumbled trying to recover as Dolgopolovic used a devious forehand dropper breaking for the second time for 4-3.
Slamming down a two-ace game, Djokovic held for 4-5 forcing Dolgopolov to serve for the opening set.
The unconventional Ukrainian was up to the task.
Carving out a quirky off-balance backhand drop shot followed by a crushing backhand crosscourt, the qualifier earned double set point. Dolgopolov drilled an ace out wide to take the first set more than doubling Djokovic in winners (12 to 5).
An unsettled Djokovic saved two break points to open the second set, navigating a tricky game with a drop shot to set up a stretch forehand.
Sliding an ace wide to open the fifth game, Djokovic winced in pain. After striking a second serve ace on the net point, he asked chair umpire Carlos Bernardes to call for the trainer.
Taking treatment for an apparent abdominal strain, Djokovic told the trainer he felt "a big stretch." The tournament doctor came out to administer anti-inflammatory tablets. Asked about the issue afterward, Djokovic joked "it's okay, it's a boy."
"It's fine," Djokovic told Gilbert in his on-court interview. "After the doctor came on court he gave me a few nice pills and the pain went away."
In his first service game after treatment, Djokovic wasn't landing his first serve but didn't appear to be in any pain either. He saved a break point grinding out a tough 4-3 hold then turned it up banging a big forehand to break at love for 5-3. Undeterred, Dolgopolov broke right back at love. Djokovic raised his arm as if preparing to bang a ball at his box where coach Boris Becker sat, instead he barked frustration.
When the top seed slapped a forehand sitter into net, Dolgopolov had a 3-0 tie break lead. He fired a forehand winner down the line for 5-4, raising a clenched fist. Dolgopolov had the match on his racquet, but couldn't close. Netting an off-balance backhand drop shot followed by another errant backhand, Dolgopolov was suddenly down set point. Djokovic cranked a forehand winner to force the decider.
Targeting Dolgopolov's backhand in crosscourt rallies, Djokovic drew three errors from the two-hander to earn double break point. The physicality of the rallies began draining the 5-foot-11 Ukrainian's leg strength. Dolgopolov buried a forehand into the middle of the net dropping serve to trail 1-2. He tried to regroup with a seven-minute injury timeout to get both feet taped up.
Djokovic, who spent much of the timeout sitting on his court-side seat rather than stretching or hitting practice serves, was stiff when play resumed clanking successive errors then a double fault to face break point. Djokovic denied it, saved a second break point winning a backhand duel, eventually digging out a demanding hold for 3-1.
Lacking the leg drive on serve he showed earlier in the match, Dolgopolov dribbled a double fault off the tape donating a second straight break and 4-1 lead to the top seed, who never looked back. Djokovic, who has now won 30 of the last 32 decisive sets he's played, is one win from his 25th Masters championship.