text: World No 1 Novak Djokovic became the first player to win the opening three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events when he defeated Tomas Berdych 7-5 4-6 6-3 at Monte Carlo on Sunday. Djokovic had overpowered eight-time champion Rafael Nadal to reach the final, not dropping a set on his 2015 clay-court debut this week. However, the 27-year-old Serb did not have it all his own way in a rain-hit match against Berdych, who had forced a break in the very first game and later rallied to force a deciding set. Novak Djokovic got his clay court season underway with victory at the Monte Carlo Open . The world No 1 kisses the trophy after defeating Tomas Berdych in the final . Djokovic celebrates with ball boys and girls after victory in the Rolex Masters . Djokovic's coaches Boris Becker (left) and Marian Vadja cheer on their charge . Djokovic, though, eventually came through to extend his winning streak to 17 matches and the advantage over Roger Federer in the world rankings to more than 5,000 points. Berdych had signalled his intent with an early break, only for Djokovic to regain his composure and lead 5-3 before eventually closing out the first set after 53 minutes. The Serbian became the first player to win the opening three Masters 1000 events . Berdych battled to win the second set but could not prevent defeat by Djokovic . Djokovic was on court for almost three hours as he overcame the Czech in three sets . Djokovic was 3-2 up in the second before rain took the players off court for the best part of an hour. Berdych, the world No 8 who reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January, came back refreshed and broke at 4-3 before levelling the match with some powerful forehands. However, a string of unforced errors from the Czech in the decider then allowed Djokovic to move into a 4-0 lead, from which he closed out victory in two hours and 43 minutes.
target: The world No 1 defeated Tomas Berdych 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in Monte Carlo .
  Novak Djokovic is first player to win opening three Masters 1000 events .
  Serbia star defeated clay court specialist Rafael Nadal in semi-finals .