Djokovic outlasts Alcaraz in nearly 4 hours for title in Cincinnati; Coco Gauff wins women’s title

MASON, Ohio: Novak Djokovic outlasted Carlos Alcaraz in a thrilling rematch of their Wimbledon final, winning 5-7 7-6 (7) 7-6 (4) on Sunday to win the Western & Southern Open. In a match that lasted 3 hours, 49 minutes, the longest best-of-three sets final in ATP Tour history (since 1990), the No. 2-seeded Djokovic avenged his loss last month to the top-ranked Alcaraz and earned his 95th career title, passing Ivan Lendl for third all-time.

In the women’s final, seventh-seeded Coco Gauff became the first teenager in more than 50 years to win the Western & Southern Open with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Karolina Muchova. Gauff, the 2022 French Open runner-up, earned her first Masters 1000 title when Muchova sailed a forehand return wide on Gauff’s fourth match point. The 19-year-old American tossed her racket in the air and jumped up and down in glee after surviving a 1-hour, 56-minute match played in temperatures approaching 90 degrees.

“This is unbelievable,” Gauff said during the post-match trophy presentation. “I’m just happy to be here for this moment. “I want to congratulate Karolina for an incredible run in this tournament,” she added.

“Hopefully, we’ll play more often, and on a bigger stage than this.” Gauff was the tournament’s fourth teenage finalist and first since Vera Zvonareva in 2004. She is the first teenage champion since 17-year-old Linda Tuero in 1968. After a spotty first set that featured a combined five service breaks, including Gauff’s double fault on one game point, Gauff gained command over her Czech Republic opponent with a break in the eighth game.