I was trying to hold all my nerves. In the end of the match, I threw all my emotions out and was happy.'

Monfils, third in French national rankings behind Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon, missed out on becoming the third Frenchman to win the Bercy title this decade after Tsonga in 2008 and Sebastien Grosjean in 2001.

Djokovic added a win to his ATP-leading record to stand 76-18 at the end of regular season play, the most wins of any player this season. He also leads the table on ten final appearances.

The Serb was playing his fifth Masters 1000 final of 2009, including three consecutive - Miami, Monte Carlo (where he lost to Rafael Nadal in three sets) and Rome (another loss to the Spaniard).

Nadal stands 5-5 in finals this season.

'I was getting slower and slower towards the end of the match,' said the winner, with just a few days to wind down before the start in London.

'I didn't have great reactions on the return, and that caused me a lot of problems, because then he was winning his service games easily in that third set.

'I really feel that I'm in a great form right now, and that's all. I have a lot of confidence. I don't want to waste any tournaments. I want to perform my best on every match I play.

'Winning any Masters 1000 Series is a huge win, so I would rate it as one of my biggest wins.'