Novak Djokovic successfully defended his title at the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, holding off Juan Martin del Potro 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (3) in a 2.5 hours final.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball during the men's singles final match against Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, east China, Oct. 13, 2013. Novak Djokovic won 2-1. [Xinhua]

Coming off a big win over top-ranked Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, Juan Martin del Potro was looking to win his maiden Masters title at his third attempt.

Novak Djokovic though, was a different proposition.A thrashing appeared likely when Djokovic raced into a 5-0 lead in the first set by dictating play with precise groundstrokes and keeping a sluggish del Potro on the defensive.

But the momentum shifted in the second set when del Potro broke Djokovic to take an early lead, then played a magnificent game to save three break points to hold for 5-2 before closing out the set.

The Argentine appeared to tire slightly as the third set wore on. Djokovic had two match points on del Potro's serve at 4-5 in the set, but the Argentine saved them both. The Serb then pulled away in the tiebreaker by hitting a forehand winner to finish off a 24-shot rally to take a 4-2 lead, leaving del Potro unable to manage another comeback. 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (3) the final result.

Djokovic captures a second Shanghai Masters title. The Serb completed a back-to-back sweep of titles at the China Open in Beijing and the Shanghai Masters for the second straight year. He's now captured seven titles overall in China - the most he's won in any country.

"Here, the centre court played a little bit faster than the one in Beijing. But it is quite suitable to my style of game. Makes me a bit more aggressive, use my serve. And I am just thrilled with the performances these two weeks," said Djokovic.

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