Novak Djokovic won a record 28th Masters 1000 title yesterday as the Serbian defeated Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-3 to earn a sixth trophy in Miami.
Victory by the runaway world number one gives the 28-year-old the all-time lead in Masters titles, surpassing Rafael Nadal’s 27.
Djokovic pulled alongside Andre Agassi on the best-ever six Miami trophies and also went past Roger Federer in the total career prize money race. His Miami cheque in excess of 1 million dollars runs his total to a staggering 98.2 million dollars - not counting many multiples of that figure in endorsements.
Djokovic earned his 16th straight Miami match win and has claimed 30 or his last 31 at the venue.
The top seed improved to 28-1 on the season after playing his seventh Miami final and is the first player to win three straight Miami titles since Agassi 2001-2003.
Djokovic has reached the final in his last 11 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments he has played as he continues to dominate the ATP season with the clay campaign starting in a week in Monte Carlo.
Djokovic made a quick escape from an early lead by Japan’s sixth seed Nishikori, with the Serbian losing his opening serve but breaking straight back.
Djokovic came out on top of a run of three consecutive breaks from the sixth through eighth games for a 5-3 lead and closed out the set 6-3 after 38 minutes.
In the second, the top seed started with a break and assumed ever more of an advantage in the rout as Nishikori was treated on the sidelines after the seventh game for a left knee problem.
Nishikori began to fall victim to more errors as his unforced count mounted to 30. He handed over a match point in the ninth game with back-to-back double-faults, but saved the initial match-winner.
But Djokovic took the victory after less than 90 minutes on his third chance following a pair of Nishikori forehand miscues.