INDIAN WELLS, California (AFP) - Third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic won the Pacific Life Open ATP Masters Series title on Sunday with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory over unseeded American Mardy Fish.

Djokovic, who claimed his first Grand Slam title with a victory at the Australian Open in January, improved on his runner-up finish to Spain's Rafael Nadal here last year.

The Serbian beat Nadal in the semi-finals on Saturday, when Fish, a one-time top-20 player who came into the tournament ranked 98th in the world, stunned world number one Roger Federer to book his finals berth.

Djokovic appeared to have the match in hand after winning the first set 6-2 and taking a 4-2 lead in the second.

But Fish broke him in the seventh game and again in the 11th as he forced a decisive third set.

Trailing 0-40 on his serve in the opening game of the third, Djokovic produced three of his 10 aces to hold. He broke Fish in the next game and never again relinquished the advantage.

"That was the crucial moment," Djokovic said of holding serve to open the third set. "That was the turning point of the whole match."

Djokovic admitted that he succumbed to nerves when trying to close out the second set.

"I was nervous in that moment and that resulted in some unforced errors and I gave him the opportunity to come back in the match. I needed to stay calm and I didn't stay calm."

Fish said he felt the Serbian's level drop.

"He played a loose game," Fish said. "He was a little nervous, a couple of games away and rolling to the title. I tried to take over as the aggressor."

Once Djokovic came up with the goods to open the third, however, Fish said he sensed his window of opportunity had closed.

"That first game was huge for him, to get back and win that game," Fish said. "You could sense there was a little spot where I could take control of the match."

With the victory, Djokovic consolidated his number three position in the rankings, moving closer to number two Nadal.

Fish will jump back into the top 50 when the new rankings are released on Monday.

The 26-year-old American, who reached his career high of 17 in the rankings in 2004, has had an injury-plagued career. But Djokovic, like Federer before him, said Fish was a better player than his ranking indicated.

Certainly Fish landed some big wins this week, eliminating five seeded players: Russians Igor Andreev (31) and Nikolay Davydenko (4), two-time former champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia (24), Argentina's David Nalbandian (7) and finally, Federer.

It marked the first time Fish has beaten three top-10 players - Davydenko, Nalbandian and Federer - in the same tournament.

"One thing has to be stated. I played about as well as I can," Fish said.

Djokovic's victory completed an impressive week in which he didn't drop a set until the final. He now heads to the second Masters Series event of the season at Miami, where he is the defending champion, on a high.

"I'll try to keep going in Miami," he said.

Earlier on the same court, Djokovic's top-seeded compatriot Ana Ivanovic lifted the WTA title in the 5.7 million-dollar tournament.

Ivanovic defeated second-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3.