2 things that stood out in Novak Djokovic's semi-final win over Alexander Zverev at the Cincinnati Open

Second seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat 16th seed Alexander Zverev of Germany 7-6, 7-5 in the semi-final of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Saturday, August 19. The match lasted for around a couple of hours, as the 36-year-old Serb pulled off a victory in the end.

Djokovic will face top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the final on Sunday. It will be a repeat of last month's Wimbledon final that the Spaniard won. It will also be a much-anticipated clash between the two best players in the world, which will potentially decide the next world No. 1.

On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in the match:

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#1. Zverev dispatched a number of short balls in the first set:

Zverev had the more powerful first serve of the two and fired 10 aces in the match. Djokovic supplied Zverev with a number of short balls with his return that the 26-year-old German dispatched from the mid-court with his forehand.

Zverev hit seven winners off his forehand in the first set. Djokovic, meanwhile, had to save three break points in the first game of the match itself, but recovered well to hold his serve with ease for the remainder of the set. The set thus went into a tie-break, with none of the players being able to break each other in it.

Djokovic kept his nose ahead throughout the tie-break and managed to win it 7-5 to draw first blood. Zverev thus faltered when it mattered the most, which has been a hallmark of most of the younger players against Djokovic.

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#2. Djokovic returned better in the second set and broke Zverev twice:

Djokovic returned deeper in general in the second set to stop providing the short balls to the German. The results came immediately, as the Serb broke Zverev in the very first game of the second set. He then held his serve to lead 2-0 and then extended his lead to 5-3.

However, Zverev then broke back to level the score at 5-5 only to be broken again in the subsequent game. Djokovic then served the match out in the 12th game of the set.

The Serb's down-the-line forehand from the deuce court won him a number of points in the match. He also pounced on Zverev's second serve, as the German was able to win only 45% of the points on it in the match.