Djokovic Defeats Cilic to Win Tel Aviv Watergen Open Tournament
One of the modern eras’ greatest tennis aces, Novak Djokovic won the Tel Aviv Watergen Open tournament on Sunday.
He was one of the featured participants at the men’s ATP tournament and claimed the title in front of about 3,000 people who had come to see him in action.
Djokovic keeps control
Ranked at the No. 7th spot in the world, the Serb went against his powerful and tall Croatian opponent Marin Cilic for the title, who is ranked 16th in the world.
It took an hour and 34 minutes for Djokovic to secure his victory and he remained in control of the proceedings for the most part.
Both the tennis pros displayed deft touches and power that had the audience enthralled and gasping at a number of moments.
The 35-year old Djokovic began the presentation with the same greeting that he had used in all the previous matches and won the hearts of the crowd.
This was in Hebrew, something that he had picked up while working with several Israelis behind the scenes.
During his speech, Djokovic congratulated Cilic who had celebrated his birthday in the previous week with a win in the tournament.
He thanked his opponent for a great match and expressed hope that they would continue to play against other players for a few more years.
He also thanked the crowd for the passion and respect they had shown him and tennis itself and received a great deal of wild applause.
The final battle
The first set started out with both players attempting to out-do one another with some powerful strokes and the nerves were quite evident.
However, Djokovic was able to secure the first set because of fewer errors and greater consistency. The second set saw Cilic settle his nerves, as he fared much better.
Since he is 1.98 meters tall, the Croatian used his long arms and his height for pounding the ball from off the court and height at his opponent.
This strategy worked for some time, but the Serb managed to raise his game and stay on top when he needed the points to maintain the lead.
A high success margin was necessary for Cilic with his huge serve, but he was not able to maintain consistency and Djokovic managed to return 74% of them.
Other details
The two tennis aces have met a total of 21 times, out of which Djokovic managed to win 19 times, with 13 of them being straight-set wins.
The prize pot of the Tel Aviv Watergen Open Tournament was $1.2 billion and the Serb walked away with $144,250, along with 250 ranking points.
As for Cilic, he got half the points and half the prize. The win marks the 89th career title for Djokovic and the second one he has won in this year.
Back in July, the tennis veteran won the Wimbledon, but he will not be able to advance his rankings with this particular win.
However, it does help him move closer to the prize pot of $160 million.
