Djokovic To Face Murray For Title

© Getty ImagesTomas Berdych was forced to retire in his semi-final match with Novak Djokovic.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will look to win his 10th title of the season on Sunday in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati when he faces Andy Murray in a re-match of the Australian Open championship match.

The Serbian earned his place in the final with victory over Tomas Berdych on Saturday. He had just rallied from 3-5 down to win the first set 7-5, when his Czech opponent was forced to retire with a right shoulder injury.

“It’s great I’m in another final. It's a great achievement. Tomorrow I'll try to get another title.” said Djokovic, who returned from a four-week break last week with victory at the Rogers Cup in Montreal (d. Fish). “I hope it’s not going to be too hot and let’s hope for another good match. We have a good rivalry, same age, same generation and it’s nice to play him in a final again.

Watch Djokovic Interview  | Watch Final Preview

“This is a surface that he plays well on, I think,” the Serb continued. “We played here finals, two tough sets, and he has won that. So he knows what it takes to win a big match, a big tournament. So there is no favourite tomorrow.”

The 24-year-old Djokovic won in straight sets when he faced Murray in the Australian Open final in January, and prevailed in a closer-run contest in the Rome semi-finals four months later. The Belgrade native has compiled a 57-1 match record on the season, with his only defeat coming to Roger Federer in the Roland Garros semi-finals.

Djokovic has already won a record five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns this year, with victory in Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Madrid and Montreal, and will look to win the Cincinnati title for the first time after runner-up efforts in 2008 (l. to Murray) and 2009 (l. to Federer).

Watch Live Online

World No. 9 Berdych was coming off his biggest win of the season over Roger Federer and was looking to reach his first final since 2010 Wimbledon (l. to Nadal).

“In the beginning, [the injury] just started like if I had to stretch, especially for the backhand side and some air balls,” explained Berdych. “But since the match was going on, then especially it started more on the serve, which is for me the worst.

“I felt pretty well in the beginning, so I was pretty much confident that if I would stay healthy that I would have a really good chance today. Right now I'm just really hoping to get ready to be ready for my first match at the US Open.”