Novak Djokovic has come from a set down to see off Stanislas Wawrinka in the final of the Rome Master.
The Serbian overcame some early struggles to defeat Wawrinka 4-6 6-3 6-3 and clinch his fourth career ATP Masters Series title.
The third seed at this claycourt event, Djokovic captured his third title this season and 10th career crown.
Just over a week ago, the Serb was forced to withdraw from his semi-final match with Roger Federer at the Monte Carlo Masters as a result of a throat problem.
But after battling through the illness en route to a hard-fought third-round victory over Igor Andreev, Djokovic barely had to work to reach the showdown with the unseeded Wawrinka.
"I didn't think that I'm going to play in the finals against a player who's unseeded, but obviously he deserved to be there," Djokovic said.
"He showed his quality."
The world No.3 won his quarter-final match when Nicolas Almagro withdrew due to a right wrist injury. One day later, Djokovic advanced again when Radek Stepanek bowed out due to an undisclosed illness.
It would be a much different story on Sunday for Djokovic, who dropped a crucial early break on his way to losing the first set.
"I knew that he's a difficult player to play against on this surface, because if you look at his history of the results, he made his best results on this surface," Djokovic said.
"So he's a specialist, and he didn't have anything to lose."
"I did what I needed to do. Even though I won in three sets, I think I'm happy in general with my performance in this tournament."
The reigning Australian Open champion converted a break in the second and two more in the third.
"I was always before him; I was pushing him," Wawrinka said.
"But I think it changed his game and he was coming more in at the net. In the second and the third set, he was serving very well, too."
Djokovic, who also has won Masters Series events at Indian Wells, Miami and Canada, improved to 4-2 all-time against Wawrinka, who became the first unseeded player to advance to this ATP Masters Series final since Felix Mantilla beat Federer in the 2003 championship.
Final of the Rome Masters, Italy
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) def. Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 4-6 6-3 6-3