Cincinnati // Roger Federer won his seventh Cincinnati Masters title on Sunday, dominating Novak Djokovic 7-6, 6-3 in a performance which sets him up nicely for the US Open.
The victory in 90 minutes means the Swiss will be seeded second behind Djokovic at Flushing Meadows.
Federer claimed his 87th career ATP title and his 24th trophy in a Masters 1000 event.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner returns to second in the world after ceding the position for a week to Andy Murray, who beat Djokovic in the final at Montreal last week.
Sunday’s defeat means the Serbian world number one has now failed in finals at both of his tune-up events for the final Grand Slam of the year, which starts on August 31.
Federer gave himself three match points with his seventh ace of the contest and converted on the first to the cheers of a partisan crowd.
The 34-year-old Swiss -- who wasn’t broken all week -- nudged ahead of Djokovic 21-20 in their head-to-head series as he avenged last month’s defeat by the Serb in the Wimbledon final.
The pair were playing for the Cincinnati title for a third time.
Djokovic, trying to become the first man to win all nine of the elite Masters 1000 titles, instead endured his fifth finals defeat at Cincinnati -- the lone Masters missing from his resume.
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