The imperious Novak Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 to win his third Madrid Open title on Sunday without dropping a set in the tournament.

Greek star Tsitsipas, 20, knocked out clay court king Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals and ousted last year’s champion Alexander Zverev before that, but could do nothing to stop the outstanding Serbian.

Djokovic, who triumphed in 2011 and 2016, equalled Nadal’s record of 33 ATP Masters 1000 titles as he won in 1 hour 30 minutes.

“These are the best tournaments, biggest tournaments we have in our sport, in the ATP, of course alongside the Grand Slams,” the 31-year-old said.

“This is as important and as good as it gets. I’m very pleased. I was saying after yesterday’s semi-final win that it was a very, very important win for me for my confidence.

“I wasn’t playing my best tennis after Australia so I was looking to regain the momentum this week. I started off well. I didn’t drop a set the entire tournament, so I’m very pleased. I played some of my best tennis here.”

The world number one had not won a title since clinching the Australian Open in January but now looks in fine form ahead of the French Open starting on May 26.

Djokovic went 2-0 up in the first set after an overhit Tsitsipas forehand on the second of two break points.

The Serb was virtually flawless, giving Tsitsipas little room to wriggle back in, sending him scrambling all over the court.

Djokovic saw the set out on serve when Tsitsipas hit the net with a forehand return.

The second set was a tighter affair as the Greek battled back but Djokovic broke to go 5-4 up with a sublime backhand winner followed by a Tsitsipas forehand miss, leaving Djokovic to serve out for the match.

“He deserved the victory. He played unbelievably. I couldn’t do much,” said Tsitsipas.

“He played quite smart, tried moving me around the court. He knew I had a tough match last night, so he took advantage (making) me run and suffer more and I just didn’t have solutions.

“He has the best backhand I have ever seen in a human being. He controls it so well. Usually some players have a good stroke, but it’s not that consistent, that is why he has been dominating for so many years.”