World No 1 Rafael Nadal overcame stubborn early resistance from defending champion Novak Djokovic to claim a record fourth Rome Masters title with a 7-6, 6-2 win on Sunday.took the first set in a tiebreak before breaking the Serbian third seed twice in the second set to bag his fifth title of the year, his third on clay, and continue his dominance.‘It’s one of the most important wins of my career,’ Nadal, who will be gunning for a fifth successive French Open title later this month, told a news conference. ‘Winning in Rome is a big title. I now have 15 Masters Series in my career, so that’s a lot, and I’m very happy for that.’Sunday’s victory lifted Nadal to the top of the Rome league, surpassing the record of three titles he had shared with Austrian Thomas Muster, Australian Martin Mulligan and Czech Jaroslav Drobny.Nadal enjoyed a flying start to the match, which had been slightly delayed because a spectator fell ill during the warm-up, breaking in the opening game.The Spaniard looked unstoppable and had a set point in the ninth game on Djokovic’s serve but let his advantage slip. Nadal dropped serve in the next game with some uncharacteristic loose forehands, allowing the Serb to level at 5-5.Djokovic smashed up a racket up for the second time this week when he immediately conceded serve again.
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