WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Swiss legend Roger Federer fell short in claiming his eighth title in Cincinnati after losing to former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the final of the Masters 1,000 event, but he gave all thumbs up to his opponnet after the match.
Djokovic defeated Federer in the final on Sunday and became the first man to win all nine ATP Masters 1,000 events since the ATP was formed in 1990.
Five years after securing his eighth ATP world tour Masters 1,000 crown in Monte-Carlo, the Serb finally completed the full set in Cincinnati, capturing the Golden Masters with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Federer.
"He's a great champion and this is what this should be about in the press conference, not about me missing second-serve returns, but about him making history," Federer said. "This is an amazing accomplishment, and I hope he's extremely proud and extremely happy about this moment."
"All these records that a player creates, at the end you're going to all judge it all together, bundle it up and say, 'Okay, what was the coolest thing you ever did?'" Federer said. "This might be it for Novak besides winning all the Slams and all the other things he's done already."
"I think it's extremely difficult to win a Masters 1,000. These tournaments don't come easy. You saw my performance today. It's just a long week. It's tough, grueling. The best players are playing. You play against tough guys early on in the draw, so you don't have much time to find your rhythm and actually almost work on your game throughout the week," the Swiss added. "He's done that maybe better than anybody. So it's a great credit to him. I think it's an amazing accomplishment."
