Cincinnati Masters 2019 Review: Daniil Medvedev bags his first Masters 1000 title, Keys records her 2nd title of the year
Daniil Medvedev, the 23-year old Russian scripted a staggering story of success at Cincinnati as he became the newest member to be crowned as the Masters 1000 champion after he overhauled the upbeat Belgian David Goffin 7-6(7-3), 6-4 in straight sets in the final of the 2019 Cincinnati Masters.
In the process, the young Russian finally broke the jinx of losing in the finals after he suffered painful defeats in the back to back weeks at Washington and Montreal.
Medvedev would have lost in the title clashes at the Washington Open and Rogers Cup against Nick Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal respectively, but the Russian was sensational and played sublime tennis all three weeks before he finally brought home his first Masters 1000 crown.
In his monumental three-week stint on the hard courts in the lead up to the US Open, Medvedev bested many talented players like Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic, Karen Khachanov over the course of three events.
However, his thrilling victory, after being a set down, over World No.1 and the defending Cincinnati Open champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Cincinnati will be Medvedev’s moment to remember as he approaches the final Slam of the year with a lot of positivity, momentum and confidence.
Roger Federer, the seven-time Cincinnati Open champion and Novak Djokovic, the defending champion started as the title favorites as Nadal withdrew from the tournament following his triumph at Rogers Cup.
While Federer suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of qualifier Andrey Rublev in straight sets in his third-round encounter, the Serb, who did not drop a set before he met Medvedev in the semis, crumbled against the in-form and upbeat Russian in a three-set defeat.
After his 7th Australian Open triumph down under at the beginning of the year, the World No.1 has struggled to gather momentum on the hard courts as he succumbed to early exits at Sunshine Double earlier this year too and his recent loss against Medvedev would now certainly invite questions about his form before he begins his title defense at New York starting next week.
Following an indifferent season last year, Belgian David Goffin is showing signs of tremendous improvement in 2019 and on the back of his appearance in the Halle Open final earlier this year, he reached his first-ever Masters 1000 final after an emphatic 6-3, 6-4 semi-final win over the Frenchman Richard Gasquet at Cincinnati.
He might have squandered his chance to be crowned as the first time Masters 1000 champion, but the Belgian can be mighty pleased with his achievements at Cincinnati and would look forward to transcend his newfound momentum into the upcoming US Open.
In the women’s side of the draw, US woman Madison Keys played incredible tennis all week to be crowned as Cincinnati Open champion for the first time in her career as she overcame dangerous and equally challenging opponents like Simona Halep, Venus Williams and Garbine Muguruza en route her path to the title.
Ashleigh Barty, the world No.1 and the current French Open champion fought her way ahead but eventually could not sustain the pressure in the semi-finals and succumbed to Svetlana Kuznetsova in a straight-sets defeat to end her hopes to win another title on hard courts after she won Miami Open earlier this year.
The last Masters 1000 event before the US Open has concluded as we turn our attention to all-important final Slam of the year. Will we experience familiar faces lifting the US Open at the Flushing Meadows yet again or can the likes of Medvedev or Thiem or someone else surge to their moment of glory at the Arthur Ashe Stadium?
One just can’t wait for the US Open 2019 to get underway as it promises to throw at us intriguing stories of ecstasy, euphoria, along with a few disappointments.