Nadal Too Strong for Djokovic in Indian Wells Final

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal captured finally got back into the winner's circle with his first career title at the Pacific Life Open and his first title since the French Open by defeating Serbian teen Novak Djokovic 6-2, 7-5 Sunday afternoon in the youngest final in Indian Wells tournament history.

"I was very satisfied with my game, for sure with the title," said Nadal, who won the event without dropping a set. "It was a very great week for me. A very, very important week. And it was very important. I have eight months without any title, but I come back with big one."

Playing in his first Masters Series final and in the biggest match of his career, the 19-year-old Djokovic began slowly dropping his serve at love in the first game and winning just two points total through the first four games as the 20-year-old Nadal rolled out to a commanding lead and the set lead in just 28 minutes.

"I was pretty nervous on the start, you know, first time final, crowd, everything," said Djokovic. "But again, I tried not to think about it, but it didn't work out. You know, he played really good in the start of the match, two breaks, and then it's really difficult to come back."

Djokovic managed to shake off the nerves and settled in early in the second set earning himself three break chances to take a 3-1 lead. But a combination of errors by the Serb and crucial saves by Nadal allowed the Spaniard to keep the set on serve.

Nadal secured the only break of serve on his second break chance to go up 6-5, and successfully closed out the match in one hour and 33 minutes in the following game. As he watched Djokovic's forehand return go long, the Spaniard raised his arms in celebration and fell onto his back to celebrate the end of his nine-month title drought.

"I was playing very, very good, without mistakes," added Nadal. "Play a lot very good with the forehand, very aggressive all the time changing the directions of the forehand. So I start very good, the match. The first set was unbelievable."

The title was Nadal's seventh careerMasters Series shield and fifth ATP hard court victory, including the ATP Masters Series Montreal and Madrid titles.

Nadal was playing in his 21st career final and his eighth Masters Series final, but had gone 12 tournaments without a title – his longest span since it took him 24 tournaments to win his first ATP title in 2004.

He became the first Spaniard to win the Indian Wells title since Alex Corretja in 2000, and the first left-handed winner since Marcelo Rios in 1998.

Djokovic was the first teenager to play in the Indian Wells final since Andre Agassi in 1990, and was attempting to become the first teen to win the title since Boris Becker accomplished the feat as a 19-year-old in 1987.

Becker, who was in attendance Sunday, presented Djokovic with his runner-up trophy and check after the match. The Serb expressed his excitement at being awarded the trophy by a tennis legend, and added to the amusement of the crowd: ""When my mother was giving me the milk, I was watching him win Wimbledon."

Djokovic will break into the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career by reaching the final.

"Generally looking, I'm really satisfied and happy with my tournament and with my start of the season," Djokovic said. "That's very important to play best tennis on the most important tournaments. As I reach the Top 10 right now, my goal for this year, I'm planning to continue forward and I'm really looking forward to the other tournaments and challenges. And I have proven to myself, first of all, and to everybody that I have enough quality to play with the best players in the world."