A SLUMP midway through the Rome Masters finals was not enough for Novak Djokovic to get the ‘W’ over clay champion Rafael Nadal, as the Spaniard claimed a record 10th title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. This victory sees Nadal draw even with Djokovic for ATP Masters titles at a whopping 36 apiece, collecting his 88th tour-level title outright with the 7-5 1-6 6-3 victory in two hours and 49 minutes.

“It’s a very satisfying [victory],” Nadal said in his post-match press conference. “It’s amazing [to] have the trophy with me again one more time here in Rome. The 10th, I really wanted this 10th here in Rome. It was one of the first important titles that I won in my career.

“After achieving 10 in Roland Garros, 10 in Monte-Carlo, 10 in Barcelona, I really wanted this one.”

The two champions retained even statistics throughout the match with neither really able to break the game open. Whilst Nadal took out the first set, Djokovic broke back with an outstanding second set to take the encounter to a third, before the clay court champion ousted the Serbian in the third to cement victory.

Overall, Nadal won 51 per cent of the total points, including 60 per cent of his service points, and hitting 26 forehand winners of 37 on his way to the title.

“I think I have been playing better and better with my forehand the past couple of weeks, getting to the confidence point,” Nadal said. “[There were] moments [that] I could change more times down the line than what I did… But the positive thing is the winners and the solutions with my forehand have been much better than the past couple of weeks.

“That’s a huge improvement for me, [a] very important shot. Especially on clay it’s gives me confidence.”

Djokovic commended Nadal for the victory, but did not hide his disappointment coming so close to downing the Spaniard on clay for the first time since 2016.

“[We played] almost three hours of high-quality tennis. Of course I’m disappointed not to win it, but at the same time I’m very pleased with the level of tennis that I managed to find in the later stages of this tournament,” Djokovic said.

“Today I thought I also played a high level,” Djokovic said. “Unfortunately [the] decisive moments in the first and third sets [today] just went his way. It was a bit unfortunate.”

The Geneva Open and Lyon Open will get underway in the coming days, with the qualifying rounds currently being completed.

INTERNAZIONALI BNL D’ITALIA FINAL RESULT:

[2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) defeated [1] Navak Djokovic (SRB) 7-5 1-6 6-3