A shout of triumph by Djokovic. AFP photo<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
“I cannot be happier than I am in this moment knowing what I’ve been through the whole week, actually two weeks, right after the Davis Cup, trying to recover and make a decision to play or not to play,” admitted Australian Open champion Djokovic.<\/p>\n
“If somebody told me 10 days ago I’d be winning the trophy, I wouldn’t think it’s so realistic, to be honest.<\/p>\n
“I went through pain, I went through a big challenge, mentally, physically, emotionally, and in the end it was getting better as the tournament was going on. I can’t ask for a better start to the clay season.”<\/p>\n
Nadal, who returned to tennis in February after seven months out with a knee injury, now stands 38-6 in clay finals, losing to only three players — Djokovic (three times) Roger Federer (twice) and Horacio Zeballos (once).<\/p>\n
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Djokovic and nadal with their silverwares<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Before the final, the Spaniard had lost only one set all week after playing in his fifth straight final since his return to the circuit.<\/p>\n
“What Novak is doing is just amazing,” said the losing finalist, who had won 46 matches in succession in Monte Carlo.<\/p>\n
“I like to win more than lose, but that’s sport, it’s not a tragedy. I lost after eight years without losing here — that’s something.<\/p>\n
“For me it was a positive week. I didn’t have the practice in Mallorca, I just practised here before the tournament.<\/p>\n
“With not much preparation, I was able to play in the final.”<\/p>\n
Djokovic ran away to a 5-0 lead at the start of a match delayed for almost an hour by rain.<\/p>\n
But Nadal would not roll over, saving seven break points — five in the sixth game as he finally got on the scoreboard.<\/p>\n
Djokovic earned the set after 47 minutes from a Nadal double-fault in the eighth game.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard looked like turning it around with a break in the second set which gave him a 4-2 lead.<\/p>\n
Djokovic calmly clawed it back with his precision shotmaking, levelling at four game apiece, but losing serve in the 11th game from a backhand wide.<\/p>\n
The Serb, who came to the final with titles at the Australian Open and Dubai, broke back for 6-6 through a backhand winner to force the tiebreaker.<\/p>\n
He ran away with the decider, seizing the win on the first of five match points with a forehand winner to the corner.<\/p>\n
Djokovic becomes the first player to beat Nadal three times in a clay court final.<\/p>\n
“I knew after yesterday’s match that I had a feeling that I had a big chance to win against Rafa if I was on the top of my game,” added the Serb.<\/p>\n
“The first six, seven games, eight games, were unbelievable. It’s the best that I can play on clay. Well, it’s the only way you can win against Rafa.”<\/p>\n
He claimed his first Monte Carlo title after losing the 2009 and 2012 finals to the Spaniard.<\/p>\n
Nadal is far from disheartened as he heads to defend his title in Barcelona next week.<\/p>\n
“Five finals in a row — if you told me that four months before, I will be crying with emotion,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’m just very happy to be able to play against the best players of the world another time.”<\/p>\n