It was Djokovic’s 10th ATP singles title and he improves to 10-3 in ATP singles finals. The World No. 3 now collects 500 South African Airways Ranking points and moves to within 310 points of No. 2 Rafael Nadal who will now have 5,435 points.
The 20-year-old Djokovic claimed his third ATP Masters Series title earlier in the season in Indian Wells where, after finishing runner-up to Rafael Nadal in the final last year, he defeated Mardy Fish in the title match. Last season, the Serbian won his first two AMS shields in Miami (d. Canas) and Montreal (d. No. 3 Roddick, No. 2 Nadal, No. 1 Federer). He now improves to 4-1 in career AMS finals and to 45-18 in overall AMS play.
"I've been very satisfied so far, and that's what I will try to keep on doing. You know, being consistent on the major events with the results and, you know, that's the important thing if I really want to stay on the top," said Djokovic.
Djokovic now improves to 25-5 for the season. At the beginning of 2008 he captured his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, defeating No. 1 Roger Federer in the semifinals before overcoming Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. He has also been a semifinalist in Dubai (l. to Roddick) and at ATP Masters Series Monte-Carlo (ret vs Federer).
In the 13th consecutive ATP Masters Series final to feature one of the three highest ranked players in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, it was Wawrinka who drew first blood, breaking in the fifth game to lead 3-2. The Swiss had chances for a double break, but despite being unable to convert, he confidently closed out the set 6-3 after 39 minutes as Djokovic returned a serve long.
Djokovic regrouped through, and in the sixth game of the second set he got a key breakthrough and went on to level the match with some effective serve and volley play after 1hr., 19min.
The Serbian was able to carry his momentum into the third set and broke in the opening game to lead 1-0. Wawrinka saved one match point at 3-5, 30-40, but when Djokovic earned a second as Wawrinka's forehand went wide the Swiss was unable to rescue the situation and a forehand winner from Djokovic secured his victory after 2hr., 4min.
"I tried to stay focused all the time, because the role of the favorite in these kind of big matches is not easy to cope with, you know," reflected Djokovic. "I didn't think that I'm going to play in the finals against a player who's unseeded, but obviously he deserved to be there. He showed his quality."
"I was starting very well," said Wawrinka. "The first set I was playing very well the first set. I was always before him; I was pushing him. But I think it change his game and he was coming more in at the net. In the second and the third set he was serving very well, too."
After reaching the quarterfinals at the Foro Italico on his debut last year (l. to eventual champion Nadal), Djokovic defeated Steve Darcis, Igor Andreev, Nicolas Almagro and Radek Sepanek en route to his first final. He now improves his tournament record to 7-1.
"I'm very happy that I managed to win a major in this surface, because now I have more confidence approaching the big events on this surface, and on other surfaces as well. So this year has been like a dream for me, but I want to continue. I want to finish the year as the No. 1 on the race."
Stanislas Wawrinka (pictured right) was trying to become the second unseeded champion in Rome in the Open Era after Felix Mantilla defeated Roger Federer in the 2003 final. He was also bidding to become the first unseeded ATP Masters Series winner since David Nalbandian won back-to-back in Madrid and Paris last year. Prior to Nalbandian, the last unseeded AMS champion was Tomas Berdych in Paris in 2005.
After his impressive run in Rome, which saw him defeat two Top 10 players in No. 8 James Blake and No. 6 Andy Roddick (ret. when trailing 3-0), World No. 24 Wawrinka now climbs to No. 10 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. With his compatriot Roger Federer ranking at No. 1, it is the first time that two Swiss players have ranked in the Top 10 at the same time in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973).
On his rankings leap, Wawrinka said: "I'm a little surprised, because in one week playing the final in Masters Series, and to be 44 and then Top 10 after the week is a big jump for me."
The 22-year-old now slips to a 1-5 career record in ATP finals. He also finished runner-up to Andy Murray in Doha at the beginning of the season. His lone title came in July 2006 at Umag where his final opponent Djokovic retired during the title match.
Third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic (pictured) captured his fourth ATP Masters Series title after defeating new World No. 10 Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome on Sunday.
Stanislas Wawrinka (pictured right) was trying to become the second unseeded champion in Rome in the Open Era after Felix Mantilla defeated Roger Federer in the 2003 final. He was also bidding to become the first unseeded ATP Masters Series winner since David Nalbandian won back-to-back in Madrid and Paris last year. Prior to Nalbandian, the last unseeded AMS champion was Tomas Berdych in Paris in 2005. 