Rafael Nadal once again proved to the world why he is a force to reckon with, when he clinched a record fourth Internazionali BNL d'Italia title, with a victory over Serbian star Novak Djokovic.

In a two hour and 3 minute match, Nadal displayed nerves of steel to close out the first set in a tie-break and from then on, never looked back as with another service break in hand, victory looked certain. The service hold in the last game gave Nadal a place in the history books as he raised his arms in victorious elation.

With a win today, Nadal can now boast of an astounding 15 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophies, second only to the former world number one Andre Agassi, who still leads the field with 17 titles.

"(It is) one of the most important (wins) of my career," said Nadal. "(To) win in Rome is a big title. I have right now 15 Masters 1000 (wins) in my career, so that's a lot, and I'm very happy for that.

"(To) win here in Rome is always unbelievable.  It's a very good tournament, and I am very happy for the victory. I am going to try my best in the next tournaments. Important thing for me right now I have 15. It is a lot. Sure, I would love to have more than 17."

Nadal collected €434,000 and 1000 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points for his win today.