Wawrinka beaten by Djokovic in Rome

Swiss tennis player Stanislas Wawrinka has lost in the final of the Rome Masters, going down 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic.

Wawrinka, who had been aiming for the second title of his career after winning a small tournament in Croatia in 2006, managed to win the first set but was eventually outgunned by Djokovic’s superior firepower.

Djokovic, who won the Australian Open in January for his first Grand Slam title, now moves within 310 points of second-ranked Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings.

Wawrinka, French Open junior champion in 2003, started the week ranked a career-high 24th after reaching the semifinal of the Barcelona Open last weekend. After his exploits in Rome he will move into the top ten.

With Roger Federer, it will be the first time two Swiss have been in the top ten.

Playing his first Masters final, the 23-year-old Wawrinka showed some early nerves and double-faulted on his first service point. After settling down, he converted his first breakpoint of the match with a forehand passing shot to take a 3-2 lead in the first set.

But as the rallies started to last longer in the second set, Wawrinka began to commit unforced errors and Djokovic converted his chances to win the tenth title of his career.