Roger Federer put himself into a favourites role for the US Open as he won a sixth Cincinnati Masters title on Sunday with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 defeat of Spain’s David Ferrer.
The Swiss world number three has never lost a final at the Midwest venue, having won the tournament in 2005 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012.
Federer now owns three titles this season and has beaten Ferrer in all of their 16 matches. Ferrer’s winning second set was only his fifth in a series spanning more than a decade.
Federer, 33, and the 32-year-old Ferrer played the first over-30 Masters 1000 final since 1990. The Swiss leads the ATP this season with 49 wins, trailed by Rafael Nadal on 44.
Federer swept the opening set of the one-hour, 42-minute title win but went strangely off his game in the second set as Ferrer flirted with a 6-0 scoreline. In the end, Federer got a game to prevent that embarrassment.
The second seed took a rare off-court break after the second set and came back a new man, Federer broke for 3-1 in the third and forced Ferrer to save four break points to hold for 2-4.
The Swiss pounded out a love game in 90 seconds for 5-2 and finished with a flourish through a final break of the Spaniard, with the match point decided in his favour by electronic line-calling.
“I don’t know how many years I have left to play here, but it feels like home,” he said of a venue where he has competed for a decade and a half. “I’ve played David a lot over the years.
“He’s a great competitor and all the guys really respect him.”
I made the final. But I can never beat Roger, he’s too much for me. I’m still lucky to be playing with the best in the world. Roger deserved to win the title.
“I made the final,” said he winner of one Masters title. “But I can never beat Roger, he’s too much for me.
“I’m still lucky to be playing with the best in the world. Roger deserved to win the title.”
In the women’s final Serena Williams recovered from an early break to rout Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-1, for the 62nd title of her career.
The world number one took 62 minutes to win as Ivanovic fell victim to fatigue after winning a semi-final the previous evening over Maria Sharapova lasting almost three hours.
Williams, by contrast, had an afternoon win with plenty of time to rest.
The 32-year-old Williams won at Cincinnati for the first time in six appearances. She will now head to New York boosted in her title defence at the concluding grand slam of 2014.
