Nadal to compete in Thailand after winning record 4th Rome Masters title

It is the third clay-court title in three weeks for the top-ranked Spaniard, following victories at the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open.

“For sure it’s one of the biggest wins of my career,” Nadal said. “It’s always incredible to win in Rome.” He extended his winning streak on clay to 30 matches, stretching back to an opening-round loss to Juan Carlos Ferrero in Rome last year.

“I had my chances,” said Djokovic, who rallied to beat Roger Federer in the semifinals. “He overcomes the pressure better than me that am why he’s the best in the world. Overall, I am pretty happy with the week.”

Nadal broke an Open Era tie with Thomas Muster, who won Rome titles in 1990, 1995 and 1996.

Jaroslav Drobny and Martin Mulligan also each won three titles before the Open Era. Chris Evert holds the women’s record at the Foro Italico with five titles.

Rome is a key warm-up for the French Open, which begins in three weeks with Nadal the four-time defending champion.

Nadal broke serve in the opening game of the match, but Djokovic had his chances in the first set before losing control for good in the tiebreaker, sending a weak backhand drop-shot attempt into the net on Nadal’s third set point.

“That was one of the toughest moments of the match,” Nadal said. “The first point of the tiebreak was for him and I had two chances to serve for the first set and lost both times. But I played the tiebreak well and that was the most important thing.”

 Djokovic then double-faulted to hand Nadal a 4-2 lead in the second set.

The Serb said fast conditions made it tough for him to handle Nadal’s heavy topspin.

“The ball was bouncing really, really high here today and that made my shots really difficult, especially from the backhand side,” he said.

The match was very different from the Monte Carlo final two weeks ago, when Djokovic became the only player to take a set from Nadal on clay this year.

Djokovic led 23-19 in winners on Sunday, but committed 40 unforced errors to Nadal’s 22, mostly with his backhand.

Nadal improved his Rome record to 22-1 and is a tour-best 38-3 this year, winning five of the eight tournaments he’s entered.

It was his 15th Masters Series title, one more than Roger Federer was and two shy of Andre Agassi’s record of 17. Nadal will also complete a Top 3 hat trick for the Thailand Open when he plays the autumn event for the first time as he is committed to take part in the US$608,500 PTT Thailand Open from September 26 - October 4 and begins an ATP Asian run which concludes a fortnight later with the new Shanghai Masters.

The world number one’s showing will follow that of Roger Federer, the 2004 and 2005 champion, and Novak Djokovic, finalist last year against Jo-Wilfred Tsonga.

“I’m very pleased to finally be able to come and compete at the Thailand Open,” said Nadal in a statement.

The presence of the world’s top player can only help the event, which is in danger of faltering after the fading from the tennis scene of Thai Paradorn Srichaphan, the major crowd-puller in his Bangkok hometown.

The reigning Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion along with his family and entourage will arrive a week prior to the tennis event for vacations in a beach city in the South, according to organizer BEC-Tero.

He is believed to appear in Thailand on a contract worth US$1 million. Other big names are defending champion Jo-Winfried Tsonga of France and local hope Danai Udomchoke.