For a while there, it looked as if Novak Djokovic had come to Rome to demonstrate that he could return from an unplanned vacation with a game even more lethal than when he left. In his first match since his victory in Monte Carlo a month ago, he brutalized Nicolas Almagro 6-1 in a brisk 29-minute first set Tuesday in the ATP Rome Masters 1000.
The World No. 1 clinched his fifth title of the season with victory over No. 2-rankedRoger Federer 6-4, 6-3 in the Rome final. Djokovic is now 19-20 lifetime in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.