Novak Djokovic beats Marin Cilic to win Tel Aviv title

Novak Djokovic continued his good form as he bested Croatia’s Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-4 to win Tel Aviv Watergen Open title on Sunday. The Serbian didn’t even drop a single throughout the tournament and came up with another dominating display in the finals.

This is Djokovic’s 89th ATP title as he played a singles tournament after almost three months following his Wimbledon victory. Djokovic was delighted with the way he played and he was able to go the way with some brilliant displays of tennis.

With this convincing win, Djokovic became the first man to win a title on hard, clay (Rome), and grass courts (Wimbledon) this season.

“My approach is to win tournaments wherever I am and I’m glad that I have a team of people around me that makes sure that I am in the best shape in order to be a contender to win titles,” Djokovic said. “That’s why I came to Israel, was to try to win the title. First time playing here [since a] Davis Cup tie more than 15 years ago, so it was a really amazing experience.”

“I played some very good tennis, I think. I [didn’t] drop a set the entire week,” Djokovic said. “I hadn’t played a tournament in three months, so it was really extra motivation for me to really do well, particularly because people have been so friendly and so supportive of me throughout the week. I’m taking some great confidence into next week as well.”

Djokovic gave his gratitude for the way he was treated in Israel and said that the experience was positive throughout the week.

“Just everything really that we experienced this week was positive. The way people treated us when we landed in Israel all the way to the last moments now of our stay here has been truly wonderful and I am very grateful because it was more than a tournament for me,” Djokovic said. 

“It was great connections that we established with people, all of us in the team, that we will cherish and will give us positive emotions for what’s coming up.”