World number two Roger Federer won his second ATP Cincinnati Masters crown in a row yesterday, outlasting American Mardy Fish 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 for his 63rd career title.
The Swiss superstar, who is bidding for a 17th Grand Slam crown when the US Open begins today week, matched Bjorn Borg for fifth on the all-time Open Era title list and captured his fourth Cincinnati crown after 2005, 2007 and 2009.
Wildcard entrant Fish, who had won recent titles in Newport and Atlanta, failed in his bid to become the first unseeded champion in the event, the final major tuneup for the year’s last Grand Slam tournament.
Federer’s victory kept Fish, 28, from reaching a career-high 16th in the rankings but the American will still rise considerably from 36th where he began the week.
Fish netted a backhand on the first break-point chance of the third set to hand Federer a 5-4 lead and the Swiss third seed held serve for the victory, which came after two hours and 40 minutes when the American sent a backhand wide.