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Novak Djokovic beats Milos Raonic to win Western and Southern Open

Novak Djokovic in the final of the Western & Southern Open
Djokovic won the Western and Southern Open titles for the second time

World number one Novak Djokovic went undefeated in 2020 with a 1-6 6-3 6-4 win over Milos Raonic to win the Western and Southern Open.

The 33-year-old Serbian equaled Rafael Nadal’s record of 35 Masters 1000 Series titles with a comeback win in New York.

Canadian Raonic, world number 30, won the first set in 31 minutes.

But Djokovic equalized before going from 2-0 to 29 in the deciding set to clinch his 80th ATP title in exactly two hours.

Since the creation of the Masters 1000 in 2009, Djokovic is the only player to claim all nine events – known as the Career Golden Masters – and this victory means he has achieved the feat twice.

Raonic, a former world number three, won the last of his eight ATP titles in 2016 and was looking to become the event’s first non-seeded winner.

He had never beaten Djokovic in 10 previous fights, but he produced a superb strokeplay to dominate the opening set.

Djokovic played the longest match of the tournament when it took more than three hours to beat Roberto Bautista Agut in Friday’s semifinal and proved his stamina and resolved once again to extend his 2020 record to 23-0.

The event is usually held in Ohio, but has been moved to New York to reduce unnecessary player travel before the US Open in the same city starting Monday.

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