With the victory, the Serbian grew to become the primary man to win a title on laborious, clay (Rome) and grass courts (Wimbledon) this season.
Djokovic didn’t lose a set on the indoor hard-court ATP 250, the place he was by no means in problem in opposition to a lineup of harmful opponents. The 35-year-old claimed his third tour-level crown of 2022 and the 89th of his profession.
Cilic entered the ultimate having confronted simply 4 break factors all week, however he was beneath stress on serve all through the championship conflict. Djokovic discovered nice depth on his returns in opposition to the big-serving Croatian, which set the tone.
Djokovic always threatened his opponent’s serve along with his play from the again of the court docket, whereas he dominated his personal service video games behind his first serve. The Serbian didn’t face a break level within the first set and when he discovered himself in bother at deuce whereas serving for the set, he responded with back-to-back aces.
The highest seed then broke for the second time within the match to start out the second set, with a deep return once more paying dividends. That benefit proved to be sufficient as Djokovic claimed the crown after one hour and 35 minutes.
Cilic has the flexibility to take the racquet out of any participant’s hand along with his highly effective recreation, however he was unable to take Djokovic out of his consolation zone. The World No. 7 confronted only one break level, which allowed him to play with confidence.
Djokovic now leads the pair’s ATP Head2Head collection 19-2. 13 of his 19 victories in opposition to the previous World No. 3 have are available in straight units. Regardless of the loss it was a superb week for Cilic, who celebrated his thirty fourth birthday on 28 September.
“It was a implausible week for me celebrating my ‘irthday. I didn’t have an opportunity to have a good time with so [many people before],’however subsequent time I’m shopping for drinks for everyone,” Cilic stated through the trophy ceremony.
Djokovic is the fifth participant to earn no less than three tour-level titles this season, becoming a member of Carlos Alcaraz (5), Rafael Nadal (4), Andrey Rublev (3) and Casper Ruud (4). The Serbian will attempt to declare his fourth trophy of 2022 subsequent week on the Astana Open.
