Novak Djokovic won his third Italian Open title and laid down a marker for the French Open with victory over Rafael Nadal in the Rome final.
Djokovic, 26, beat the defending champion and world number one 4-6 6-3 6-3 in two hours and 19 minutes.
The Serb has now won four matches in a row against Nadal, and has been victorious at five of the past six ATP Masters 1000 events.
“I was able to find positive things during the tournament but I played three very tough matches this week and it was very hard mentally, as well as physically,” said Nadal
“I was a little bit tired.”
This year’s French Open, where Nadal is eight-time champion, begins on Sunday.
In the women’s singles, World number one Serena Williams overpowered home favourite Sara Errani to retain her Italian Open title.
The American, 32, powered through 6-3 6-0 at Rome’s Foro Italico and took her record on clay to 53 wins and two defeats since 2012.
She has now won 60 WTA titles, moving her into seventh in the all-time list.
Williams will head to the French Open, which begins next Sunday, as a strong favourite to successfully defend her title and win an 18th Grand Slam.
Source: BBC Sport
