Serbian ace Novak Djokovic has defeated defending champion Kevin Anderson 4-6 7-5 7-5 to win the Mubadala World Tennis Championship a fourth time.

It took world No.1 Djokovic two hours and 14 minutes to prevail over the South African world No.6 in the exhibition tournament in the UAE capital on Saturday, where the Serbian also strung together three straight titles in 2011-2013.

Anderson, who reached the final by defeating Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the previous round, had a more reliable serve at the start and didn’t lose serve until the 11th game of the second set.

The South African managed to save two match points in the final set before succumbing to the Serb.

Djokovic extended his dominance over Anderson, the 2017 Mubadala champion, whose only victory in 10 matches against the Serb came a decade ago in Miami.

Earlier in the day, Russia’s Karen Khachanov won the third-place match 6-3 4-6 10-3 over Austrian Dominik Thiem, who stepped in for Nadal after the Spaniard decided to skip the contest to avoid aggravating an injury ahead of the Australian Open.