Djokovic claims 10th title

2008-05-11 17:54

Rome - Novak Djokovic has won the 10th title of his career on Sunday, rallying to beat unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6 6-3 6-3 at the Rome Masters.

The third-ranked Djokovic won the Australian Open in January for his first Grand Slam title, then captured the Masters Series event in Indian Wells, California, in March.

The third victory of 2008 will move Djokovic within 310 points of second-ranked Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings.

This tournament is an important clay-court warm-up for the French Open, which begins in two weeks.

Djokovic improved to 8-1 on clay this season and 25-5 overall. At the Monte Carlo Masters last month, Djokovic retired from his semifinal match with top-ranked Roger Federer due to strep throat.

The Serb showed no signs of sickness this week, although many other players did.

Both Djokovic and Wawrinka advanced to the final when their semi-final opponents retired. First, Andy Roddick pulled out with a back problem against Wawrinka, then Radek Stepanek quit with apparent heat stroke against Djokovic.

Djokovic's quarter-final opponent, Nicolas Almagro, also withdrew with a wrist problem.

Djokovic did not face a seeded player all week, registering wins against Steve Darcis and Igor Andreev in his opening two matches.

Lower back treated

Despite the loss, Wawrinka will move to 10th when the new rankings come out Monday. With Roger Federer, it will mark the first time two Swiss players have been in the top 10.

The 22-year-old Wawrinka was the French Open junior champion in 2003.

Djokovic broke Wawrinka's serve in the opening game of the third set when Wawrinka hit a backhand long after a 20-stroke rally.

Trailing 2-3 in the third, Wawrinka called for a trainer and had his lower back treated. He came back and didn't appear to struggle, but Djokovic maintained his lead and broke again to close out the match in little more than 2 hours.

Playing his first Masters Series final, Wawrinka showed some early nerves and double-faulted on his first service point. After settling in, Wawrinka converted his first breakpoint of the match with a forehand passing shot to take a 3-2 lead in the first set.

Wawrinka also displayed a blistering one-handed backhand that Djokovic had trouble dealing with early on.

As the rallies started to last longer in the second set, Warwinka began to commit unforced errors and Djokovic converted his first break point opportunity of the match to take a 4-2 lead in the second.

- AP