The Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has dethroned clay king Rafa Nadal on the Spaniard's home soil and maintained his extraordinary season after beating the world number one in straight sets to win the Madrid Masters title.
The second seed ground down the local favourite and defending champion during a succession of ferocious rallies to record his 32nd consecutive win of a defeat-free 2011, the best season start since John McEnroe's 42-match streak in 1984.
The defeat marked Nadal's first loss on his beloved clay in 38 matches since he fell to Robin Soderling in the fourth round of the 2009 French Open and denied him a third title on the red dirt in under a month after he won back-to-back at the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open last month.
Djokovic, who had never beaten Nadal on clay in nine previous attempts, now has six titles this year, including the Australian Open and the Masters in Indian Wells and Miami.
The ATP tour now has the Rome Masters before the French Open.
