Roger Federer to face Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati Masters final
Federer and Djokovic meet in Sunday's final at 9pm on Sky Sports Action
Sunday 19 August 2018 11:37, UK
Roger Federer has set up a showdown with Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati Masters final on Sunday after a comfortable semi-final win over David Goffin.
Second seed Federer was leading 7-6 (7/3), 1-1 when Goffin retired with an injury after 62 minutes on Saturday.
The Belgian needed treatment for a shoulder problem after losing the opening set.
"I realised that he was not serving very big," Federer said. "But it was only after he was treated that I knew something might be wrong.
"I could see that he was unhappy, but I thought he was going to play on."
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Federer, a seven-time champion at the event, was not unhappy to get a quick win.
"I'm going to recover for tomorrow," he added. "This match was erratic at the start with hardly any rallies.
"But it got better towards the end, I'm glad my serve has worked well all week. I'm happy today was fairly easy."
Djokovic, who beat 2016 winner Marin Cilic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to earn his place in the final, leads a rivalry with Federer by a thin 23-22 margin with the Serb winning three of their last four meetings.
He had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Cilic, the 2016 champion in the combined WTA and ATP event.
He only secured his defeat of the Croatian late in the final set, breaking for 5-3 and finishing off the hard-fought victory in the next game.
"It's tough, I'm very pleased to reach the final once more here," Djokovic said.
"It's been a difficult week with rain delays and all that was happening. I've been down in my last three matches but I've come back.
"Hopefully I can get it done this time."
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