Rafael Nadal won the Rome Open earlier today (Sunday, May 16), beating world number one Novak Djokovic, 7-5, 1-6, 6-3.

It is the tenth time that Nadal has won the Rome Open and this victory further cements his status as “The King of Clay”.

Nadal, ranked World Number 3, has now won 36 Masters tournaments.

Yesterday, Djokovic had to complete his quarter-final match and play the semi-final on the same day. Today he was still open to put up a great fight and showed why he is now the top tennis player in the world.

Nadal has for close to two decades dominated the clay season and on the red dirt, he is the man to beat.

Later this summer, he defends his French Open crown having won that Grand Slam 13 times.

Nadal has won 20 Grand Slams and is tied on that number with Roger Federer. If he wins the French Open in Paris this summer, he would have won more Grand Slam titles than any player in the history of the game.