Second seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic held his nerves in a rain-delayed Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship final when he outclassed Russian Mikhail Youzhny to successfully defend the title he won 12 months ago.

Re-visit the tense moments of a see-saw final, click here.

When the play resumed on Sunday after the match got rescheduled due to bad weather in Dubai, Djokovic raced to a 3-0 second set lead with opening set already in hand. Youzhny, though had some other ideas in mind as he took full advantage of Djokovic's innumerable unforced errors to level the match at one set a piece.

The decider again saw Djokovic get an early 3-0 lead which the Russian again squandered by breaking the Serb back. As the set progressed, Djokovic grabbed an elusive break in the eighth game and closed out the three hour 21 minute battle with a 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 scoreline.

"It's a big boost because I believe in myself. Even when I play bad, I know I have the abilities. Today was another good example of how much I believe in myself and how much I fight till the end," Djokovic said.

This is Djokovic's 17th career ATP World Tour singles title. Djokovic pocketed US$ 383,000 and valuable 500 South African Airways ranking points whereas Youzhny settled for 300 ranking points and US$ 180,000 as runner's up check.