Federer defeats Djokovic for sixth title this year

World number one Roger Federer underlined his dominant position in the game by securing his sixth ATP title of the year with an impressive 6-0, 7-6 win over Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati Open final on Sunday.

Federer's 21st Masters 1000 title equals Rafa Nadal's record in the elite series and his win against the Serbian world number two showed he is in optimum form heading into the U.S. Masters later this month.

Federer barely broke sweat in a first set which took just 20 minutes but it was a tighter affair in the second which Federer eventually won 9-7 in the tiebreak.

The tone was set by the first game of the match when Djokovic double faulted to give Federer two break points which he gratefully accepted.

That was the first of four double-faults in the first set and Federer took full advantage of them all to record his first 6-0 set against Djokovic in 28 meetings between the top two ranked players in the world.

"He started off really well and I made a lot of double faults and errors," said Djokovic, who has now lost in all four of his Cincinnati finals.

"I had my chances in the second set and I missed them and he deserved the win," added the Serb.

There were no service breaks in the second set as Djokovic finally found his touch but Federer's outstanding backhand defence made for some entertaining rallies.

The Swiss missed out on match-point in the tiebreak but made no mistake at the second attempt, a superb forehand winner putting an end to the contest.

It is the fifth time Federer has won the Cincinnati event and the third time in four years.

Photograph: John Sommers II/Reuters