Djokovic Becomes the First Man to Win All Nine Masters 1000 Titles

Novak Djokovic has done something no tennis player has done before. By beating Roger Federer 6-4 6-4 in the Cincinnati Masters final on Sunday, the Serb became the first player to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, a feat now known as the Career Golden Masters.

Cincinnati was the one big title missing from his collection, and it had not been for lack of trying. He had lost finals there to Federer in 2009, 2012 and 2015. This year he had to come from a set down against Adrian Mannarino and Grigor Dimitrov, and went three sets with Milos Raonic and Marin Cilic, before beating second seed Federer in straight sets. It was his first match against Federer since the 2016 Australian Open.

The win caps a remarkable summer. Djokovic had elbow surgery in January and arrived at Wimbledon ranked 21st, then won the title for his first Grand Slam in more than two years. Afterwards he admitted he hadn't been sure he would get back.

I had many moments of doubt. I didn't know, really, if I could come back to the level to compete.

Off court, Djokovic is one of the best-known plant-based athletes in the world. He has eaten gluten-free since 2010, and in 2016 he opened Eqvita, a vegan restaurant in Monte Carlo. He doesn't claim to be strictly vegan: a 2016 Wall Street Journal interview summed up his diet as "vegan with a little fish here and there". He has credited his plant-based eating with clearing up allergies and mild asthma that dogged him early in his career, and at 31 he is still covering the court like few others can.

He joins a run of plant-powered winners this summer. Neil Robertson won the Riga Masters last month, and the list runs from JaVale McGee's second NBA title to Manchester United's Chris Smalling going fully vegan.

Nine out of nine. Powered by plants.