Nadal still claycourt king, says Djokovic

ROME: Novak Djokovic insisted he has not displaced Rafael Nadal as the king of clay despite beating the world number one in the last two Masters finals on the Spaniard's favourite surface.

Djokovic dethroned Nadal as the title-holder in Rome with a 6-4, 6-4
victory here, just one week after also beating him in straight sets in Madrid.

In doing so he became only the third player to beat Nadal on clay more than once, joining Gaston Gaudio (three) and Roger Federer (two) in holding that distinction.

But even so, Djokovic insists Nadal is still the man to beat on the red
stuff with the French Open, where the Spaniard will be seeking a sixth title, starting next weekend.

Djokovic won for the 37th time in a row since the start of the season and 39th in all, including two Davis Cup matches at the back end of last year.

He is sixth on the all-time list of longest winning streaks and if he wins
the French Open he would equal Guillermo Vilas's mark of 46 from 1977.

He is second only to John McEnroe in the list for the best winning start to a season and needs only to reach the Roland Garros semi-final to surpass the American's 42-match mark from 1984.

And Djokovic puts his new found steel and consistency down to a team
success with Serbia in the Davis Cup in December.