Andy
Murray celebrated his birthday by given himself the perfect gift as he defeated
world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the Italian Open final Sunday.
It was
the Scot's first win over Djokovic on clay and only the second time Murray
tasted victory against his rival in their previous 14 encounters -- his last
coming in Canada last year.
Their
routes to the final couldn't have been more different; Murray cruised through
his rounds without dropping a set, while Djokovic had to negotiate a
quarterfinal against clay king Rafael Nadal and a marathon semifinal against
Japanese star Kei Nishikori.
On his
29th birthday, Murray broke Djokovic once in the first set and twice in the
second to wrap up the match 6-3 6-3 in little over an hour and a half.
It was
the second Masters 1000 final the pair had contested in the space of a week,
after their meeting in Madrid last Sunday -- Djokovic prevailing on that
occasion.
Victory
sees Murray return to second in the world ranking ahead of the French Open, the
year's second grand slam, which gets under way on May 22.
Djokovic
cut a visibly frustrated figure as he argued with umpire Damian Steiner,
claiming the surface in Rome was "too dangerous" to play on due to
rainfall, but they were ordered to continue.
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