Rafael Nadal is the champion at the Rome Masters for the 10th time in his career after a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 win over Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final.

It was the 57th all-time match between the superstars and the sixth in the finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, a clay-court event dominated by this duo over the past 20 years.

Nadal came out victorious this time around and is now 28-29 in his career against Djokovic.

The win also gave the No. 3 player in the world his second title in 2021 after winning at Barcelona last month.

Sunday's match began with a close back-and-forth battle that was much different than Nadal's straight-set victory in the 2020 Roland Garros final when they last met.

The two players seemingly got to everything on the court during a first set that lasted an hour and 15 minutes.

Nadal finally got a key break after a 5-5 tie, winning the first set on his serve one game later.

It was a completely different story in the second set, however, as Djokovic bounced back with a dominant 6-1 victory.

Djokovic was more accurate with his serve while also winning 57 percent of return points in the set, including going 6-of-9 against the second serve.

It all came down to the decisive third set and a few games that helped determine the match.

After a 2-2 start, Nadal survived two break points in the fifth game for a key hold before taking over the momentum. He broke Djokovic to love in the sixth game and never looked back.

The Spanish star eventually closed out the win with his serve a few games later for yet another impressive victory on clay.

Regardless of the outcome in the final, both players showed throughout the tournament why they remain top contenders for every big event on the calendar. Even as the next generation tries to break through with more championships, Djokovic, 33, and Nadal, 34, continue to thrive when it matters most.

With Roland Garros two weeks away, it will be hard to pick anyone else to win the second Grand Slam of the year.