THE CANADIAN PRESS ROME -- Canadian Daniel Nestor and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic lost the Rome Masters doubles final after a lengthy tiebreaker Sunday, falling 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 to American twins Bob and Mike Bryan. It was the second championship loss at the elite Masters level for the second seeds, who also lost in the Indian Wells final last March. "We were playing well as a team, it was a couple of shots here and there in the final that made the difference," said Nestor."We like our form now. We won some important matches this week which we would not have done a few weeks before. "We had lost some tough three-setters and we won them this week. Things are turning around and hopefully we just need to build on them." In singles play, Novak Djokovic won the 10th title of his career, rallying to defeat unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Nestor and Zimonjic joined forces after the U.S. Open last year and took the first set with a late break. They failed to hold the momentum in the second as the Americans recovered with a break in the final game. The tiebreaker third was a lottery. Nestor and Zimonjic were unable to capitalize on a 4-1 lead, with the Bryans making up the gap and taking a 5-4 advantage. They rebounded to go up 8-7 only to lose the contest three points later when the top seeds converted their first match point. The Bryans now look ready for the French Open after also winning a trophy in Barcelona last week on clay. They won their first Rome title after runner-up finishes in 2005 and 2007. The teams next head to Hamburg for another Masters Series event, the last major tuneup before the May 25 start of the French Open. Nestor and Zimonjic hadn't won a match since Indian Wells, falling in subsequent opening matches in Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona before Rome. "The difference was we had two double-faults and they had none," said Nestor. "Other than that it was pretty even. "Every point was close, it went back and forth. They're the best and you have to go for it. Unfortunately it didn't work out." The third-ranked Djokovic, meanwhile, won the Australian Open in January for his first Grand Slam title, then captured the Masters Series event in Indian Wells, Calif., in March. "This is one of the best tournaments I've won," the Serb said in fluent Italian after receiving the winner's trophy from four-time Rome champion Gabriela Sabatini. Djokovic's third victory of 2008 will move him within 310 points of No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings. Djokovic acknowledged he is a contender to become No. 1. "I hope so. But I don't want to think about No. 1 yet," he said. "I know a lot of people will start talking now about me being one of the best players. Let's see. I'm taking it as it comes." Djokovic improved to 8-1 on clay this season and 25-5 overall. At the Monte Carlo Masters last month, Djokovic withdrew from his semifinal match with top-ranked Roger Federer due to strep throat. He showed no signs of weakness this week, although many other players did. Both Djokovic and Wawrinka advanced to the final when their semifinal opponents quit. First, Andy Roddick pulled out with a back problem against Wawrinka, then Radek Stepanek quit with apparent heat stroke against Djokovic. Djokovic's quarter-final opponent, Nicolas Almagro, also withdrew with a wrist problem. Djokovic did not face a seeded player all week, registering wins against Steve Darcis and Igor Andreev in his opening two matches. Despite the loss, Wawrinka will move to 10th when the new rankings come out Monday. With Federer, it will mark the first time two Swiss players have been in the top 10. The 22-year-old Wawrinka was the French Open junior champion in 2003.
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