Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates with his trophy during the awarding ceremony for the final of men's singles at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, 2008, in Shanghai, yesterday. Novak Djokovic won the title by defeating Russia's Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 7-5.- Xinhua

World number three Novak Djokovic battered Nikolay Davydenko into submission with a magnificent display to win his first Masters Cup title yesterday.

The Australian Open champion went into the match after a week of mixed displays but was back to his very best as he won his first title since May at 6-1, 7-5.

"I'm very, very happy," he said. "It's a great achievement for me.

"The best eight players playing here says everything about the quality of the event and I would definitely put it on a level with the Grand Slams."

A total rout looked on the cards when the Serb raced through the opening set losing just one game.

And although Davydenko, who beat Britain's Andy Murray in the semi-finals, improved in the second set, he still found himself regularly at full stretch to cope with the relentless power of the second seed's ground strokes.

Djokovic moved to the brink at 5-3 ahead but, after going 40-15up on Davydenko's serve, failed to convert his first two championship points.

The Russian won four points on the bounce to hold serve and his comeback - roared on by an enthusiastic Shanghai crowd - gathered pace as he played his best tennis of the match to break for 5-5.

But Djokovic ensured his wobble did not become a full-scale crisis by immediately breaking back and then serving out for the title and a winner's cheque of US$1.24 million.

Daniel Nestor of Canada and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic beat Americans Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6(3), 6-2 to win the doubles title and clinch the number one ranking.