Andy Murray beats Novak Djokovic to win the Rome Masters

There have been times in the last two years when beating Novak Djokovic has appeared to be an all but impossible challenge for Andy Murray, but the Scot’s never-say-die attitude was finally rewarded here. His wholly deserved 6-3, 6-3 victory in the final of the Rome Masters was only his second over the world No 1 in their 14 meetings since the 2013 Wimbledon final.

Just seven days after his latest defeat to the Serb in the final of the Madrid Masters, Murray celebrated his 29th birthday in the best possible fashion by winning only the second clay-court Masters Series title of his career. It was a triumph all the more commendable given that Murray has been dealing with the implications of the split from his coach, Amelie Mauresmo, since the start of last week.

With the French Open starting in seven days’ time, Murray will head to Paris as one of the favourites. So far this has been the best clay-court season of his career, his only defeats having come against Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals of last month’s Monte Carlo Masters and to Djokovic in the final in Madrid. Until his loss here Djokovic had won six of the last seven Masters Series tournaments and had suffered only two defeats in 2016.

Murray, whose mother Judy was here to watch the final, is only the second British man to have won this historic event, which has long been one of the cornerstones of the European clay-court season. Pat Hughes, who often partnered Fred Perry in doubles, won the title in 1931 and was runner-up a year later. Hughes and Murray are the only Britons who have ever contested the final.

“Some of the best players of all time have won this event,” Murray said afterwards. “There's very few years where there's been a surprise winner. It's mostly great players who have won this event, so I'm very proud to have my name on the trophy.”

Of the nine Masters Series tournaments, which form the next tier of events below Grand Slam level, Monte Carlo is now the only one in which Murray has not reached the final.

Murray, who will return to No 2 in the world rankings tomorrow, had lost all four of his previous clay-court encounters with Djokovic, but if ever the situation was favourable for the Scot when facing his old rival, this was it. Djokovic, who still leads their head-to-head record by 23 wins to 10, had been involved in lengthy physical battles on each of the previous three days – against Thomaz Bellucci, Nadal and Kei Nishikori – while Murray had enjoyed a relatively straightforward passage against Jeremy Chardy, David Goffin and Lucas Pouille.

In particular Murray had needed only 59 minutes to beat Pouille in the semi-finals on Saturday afternoon, while Djokovic’s three-hour thriller against Kei Nishikori had ended at 11.13pm. The world No 1 had also dealt with a self-inflicted injury in that match, having drawn blood when he hit his left ankle with his racket while trying to knock clay out of the soles of his shoes.

It was no surprise when Djokovic cancelled his scheduled practice session in the morning and there were times in the match when the world No 1 seemed below his best. However, he did not help his own cause when he allowed himself to be distracted by a running dialogue with the umpire, Damian Steiner, over the conditions. On a damp day Djokovic kept complaining that the court was unsafe and protested that he was repeatedly losing his footing.

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Murray, in contrast, remained focused on his task. The Scot was admirably positive from the start, attacking at every opportunity and keeping Djokovic on the retreat as much as he could.

Because of the late finish the night before, the start was put back to 5pm. The weather has deteriorated through the week here and there had been rain in the air shortly before the players walked out on court. Under the darkening skies it was not long before the floodlights were turned on.

Rain started to fall again during the second game, in which Djokovic saved three break points. Murray, who in the Madrid final seven days earlier had never fully recovered from his slow start, bristled with aggression from the outset, but if anything he was too eager, hitting the ball long in going for winners on two of those opportunities.

He did not have to wait long for his next chance. Djokovic went 15-40 down in his next service game and on the following point put a backhand wide when under attack.

Murray went 40-15 up when he served for the first set at 5-3, only for the rain to start falling again. Djokovic saved a first set point but on the second Murray followed up a thunderous forehand with a drop shot winner.

As the match progressed Djokovic grew increasingly frustrated with the conditions. While the Serb was losing his cool, however, Murray stayed level-headed, though he had to survive some difficult moments at the start of the second set.

Djokovic had break points in Murray’s first two service games of the second set, but the Scot hung on. At 2-2 it was Djokovic’s turn to feel the pressure, with a different outcome. Murray forced a break point when Djokovic netted a backhand and converted it with a volley winner after a well-constructed point.

When Djokovic served to stay in match at 3-5 he went 15-40 down with a double fault. The stage was set for Murray to complete his victory in sensational fashion. Djokovic had what appeared to be an easy “kill” at the net, but Murray chased the ball down and from way out beyond the tramlines hit a sensational winner down the line. It was a wonderful way to finish a great week.

“Today against Novak is nice,” Murray said “I know he didn't play his best today. But there were still some tough moments for me in the second set. I saved the break points well and held strong. And overall it was a great week for me. I didn't lose a set. Last year I certainly didn't think I'd be winning a clay-court Masters Series multiple times and giving myself a lot of opportunities to do that.”

Djokovic said that he had had “a long couple of weeks, especially the last couple of days”. He added: “I knew it was going to be very hard for me, an uphill ride against Andy today, who was playing throughout the week on a very high level.

“To compete with him in the long exchanges and rallies that we have in our encounters requires a lot more energy and a better performance from my side, which didn't happen. But I’m not taking anything away from Andy's win.

“On the contrary, I think he deserved to win and deserved to win the entire tournament, because he was the best player. He was the player that played in the best form throughout the entire tournament.”