Novak Djokovic earned his third straight final victory over top-ranked Rafael Nadal with a 7-5, 6-4 win at the Madrid Open yesterday that stretched his unbeaten start to the season to 32 matches.

The second-ranked Djokovic cut Nada’s latest winning streak on clay at 37 matches with his first victory in 10 tries over the Spaniard on his favored surface. It was Djokovic’s sixth title of 2011 and allowed him to surpass Bjorn Borg’s 31-match unbeaten run from 1980. He now only trails the 42-0 start by John McEnroe in 1984.

Djokovic's 34 straight wins since Serbia's Davis Cup triumph in December is the eighth best of all time.

Nadal's last defeat on clay came nearly two years ago at the French Open with the French Open player winning six clay titles since. But Djokovic followed up final wins over Nadal in Miami and Indian Wells with one on home turf to hand him only his seventh clay loss in 196 matches dating to 2005.

Djokovic took home a winner’s cheque of €590,000.