ATP World Tour No. 3 Novak Djokovic held his nerve in a gripping finale at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris (Bercy) Sunday, edging home favourite Gael Monfils 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3) to claim his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title of the season.

The Serbian put some more distance between himself and fourth-placed Andy Murray in the year-to-date South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings by adding a further 400 points, a total of 1000 for the week. Djokovic, looking to finish in the Top 3 for the third straight year, now stands on a total of 7,910, while Murray trails by 1,280. Runner-up Monfils was rewarded with 600 points for his efforts this week, placing him at No. 13 in the Rankings.

"I'm very happy that I managed to win a big tournament just two tournaments before the end of the season," said Djokovic. "Now I'm coming with a lot of confidence in London (to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals), and the only question is if I'm able to physically rest and get energy for that event."

It was Djokovic’s first win from five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals this year, following runner-up efforts at the Sony Ericsson Open (l. to Murray) in Miami, the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (l. to Nadal), the Internazional BNL d’Italia (l. to Nadal) in Rome and the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters (l. to Federer) in Cincinnati.

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The 22 year old is the third player to win at least five tour-level titles this season, joining leader Andy Murray (six) and Rafael Nadal (five). He was contesting an ATP World Tour-best 10th final of the season and playing in his 94th match.

In compiling a 76-18 match record – the most match wins on the ATP World Tour in 2009 – the Belgrade native has captured titles at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (d. Ferrer), the Serbia Open 2009 (d. Kubot) in his hometown, the China Open (d. Cilic) in Beijing and at last week’s Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel – where he dethroned three-time winner Roger Federer.

"Winning back-to-back titles on this level is a huge achievement for me, and adding to that, beating No. 1, No. 2 of the world," said Djokovic, who dismissed No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals on Saturday. "So I'm very pleased with my performances in the past four, five weeks. I think winning back-to-back titles probably for the first or maybe second time in my career gives me even more motivation to make the same success in the future."

In a match riddled with momentum swings, the crowd at the Palais Omnisports was kept guessing up to the last ball who would prevail. The experienced Djokovic, playing in the 11th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final of his career, made the stronger start to the match, breaking twice in the fourth and eighth games for a one-set lead.

The Serbian looked to be well on his way to a comfortable victory, mirroring the ease of his semi-final over Nadal, as he raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set. However, he squandered his advantage as errors crept into his game and the vociferous French crowd inspired Monfils as he hit back to level at 3-3 before breaking serve once more in the 11th game and going on to take the set.

The third-seeded Djokovic twice led by a service break in the deciding set, but both times Monfils fought his way back into contention as he eagerly pushed for his second title of the season on home soil. The Open de Moselle champion pushed Djokovic to a tie-break, but the Serb demonstrated his mettle by blocking out the raucous support for Monfils and creating a 6-3 lead. Monfils then conceded the match with his sixth double fault after two hours and 43 minutes.

"I had to [dig deep], because in the last four finals that I've played this year in [ATP World Tour Masters] 1000 events I lost, so it was kind of in my head," admitted Djokovic. "I was thinking about it, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling, especially when I saw Gäel getting into the rhythm more.

"Of course [the] big support of the crowd gave him even more motivation and more energy towards the end of the match. So I was kind of fighting him and fighting the big pressure of the crowd. I was trying to hold all my nerves. At the end of the match, I threw all my emotions out and was happy."

"The only thing I see is that everything depended on this tie-break in the last set. I was not able to win that final tie-break," lamented Monfils. "I will be disappointed. I'll be disappointed today or tomorrow or in three weeks, because it was really tight.

There's nothing that I did wrong. He played very well. He was hitting well and no mistakes," complimented the Frenchman. "I needed to fight and stay in there. I started playing better in the third set. He broke me. I was able to find my energy to come back."

Victory marked Djokovic’s 16th tour-level title and the second time in his career that he has won five trophies, having also done so in 2007. The Monte-Carlo resident, who is on a 10-match winning streak, will look to extend his run by defending his title at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, beginning on Sunday 22nd November at The O2 arena in London.

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The 23-year-old Monfils was contesting an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final for the first time and was attempting to become the 56th player (since 1990) – and the fifth Frenchman - to win one of the coveted trophies.

The Paris native closed the year on a 42-19 mark, highlighted by his second career title in Metz (d. Kohlschreiber) and a runner-up finish at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel (l. to Almagro) in Acapulco.

"It's [been] a very strange year," assessed Monfils. "I don't believe it's a very good season. I hope it's just a normal season. But I'm happy because I had one title and a final in an [ATP World Tour] Masters 1000. I would like to be Top 10. I'm not very far, but I'm not Top 10.

"This end of season gives me really the desire to work hard so that next year maybe I will have a full season. I'm thinking if I was able to play all the year round, all the tournaments, how good it would be. Without doing that, I'm already Top 13. I don't want to over-estimate myself, but if I had played a full year this year I would have been among the Top 10. I'm almost sure of that. I'm sure next year I will be able to get back within the Top 10."