After the "nightmare" that was the blue clay in Madrid, the 'King of Clay' Rafael Nadal gave world number one Novak Djokovic a lesson in clay-court tennis, handing the Serbian a 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the Rome Masters on Monday.

Nadal, who will return to the world number two position after losing the place to Roger Federer last week, clinched his sixth crown in Rome and will again be the man to beat in Roland Garros. Having lost seven consecutive finals to Djokovic, Nadal has now won two straight, the first one coming in Monte Carlo. "Winning for the sixth time here is amazing. It's a very important victory. The win gives me confidence for the rest of the season," an elated Nadal said after the match.

Nadal, who also has the most number of Masters titles with 21, did not drop a set the entire tournament. "I won here without losing a set against players like (Tomas) Berdych and David (Ferrer) and Novak, so I am happy.

"I was aggressive today, when I had to be. It was pretty similar to Monte Carlo. My forehand has gotten stronger from last year and I think I was mentally strong enough to play very well at the important moments."

Djokovic rued the missed chances. "It was quite close, even if he won in straight sets. If you don't use the opportunities against Rafa, then he gets momentum. He is always the favorite on this surface."

"I made a lot of unforced errors. In my opinion, I don't think he played extremely well.

"I will go to Paris with a good level of confidence, because I had a good week."

In the women's final on Sunday, Maria Sharapova came from a set down to retain her title 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).