Claycourt King Rafael Nadal claimed his fifth Rome Masters crown with a hard earned win over compatriot David Ferrer in the final of the Internazionli BNL D'Italia, an ATP World Tour 1000 event, being played in the historic Rome.

Re-live the historic moments of Nadal's Roman triumph, click here.

Nadal opened the match under tight competition and failed to break Ferrer's serve despite some early opportunities. However, with an elusive break in the eleventh game post the first rain delay, the Spaniard closed the opening set by 7 games to 5.

The second set brought another break, followed by another frustrating rain delay which saw Nadal sit on a comfortable laed in the match. When the play resumed, Nadal raced to  a 7-5, 6-2 victory and clinched his 17th Masters series crown, thereby emulating Andre Agassi in the all time leaders standings on top.

With a win, Nadal pocketed the winner's check of € 434,000 and 1000 valuable South African Airways ATP Singles rankings points, whereas Ferrer settled for 600 ranking points and the runner up check of € 203,000.