Murray celebrated his 29th birthday in style by beating the Serbian 6-3 6-3 in the final in Rome to become the first Briton to win the Italian crown in the Open era.
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Murray maintained his focus through two rain delays to beat French qualifier Lucas Pouille 6-2, 6-1.
World No. 52 Pouille is the first lucky loser to reach the semi-finals of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament since Thomas Johansson in Toronto in 2004.
“Any time you get the chance to play the best players, especially right before a Slam, is great preparation”, Murray, who has won just one of his past 13 matches against Djokovic, told reporters.
Murray’s win on the clay court came during a steady rain that prompted Djokovic to make a plea to halt the match.
Djokovic was less than thrilled by the loss, which came a week after he beat Murray in the finals of the Madrid Open.
Murray, however, appeared to have no trouble and never dropped his serve, saving all three break points he faced, finishing the tournament without losing a set.
The start of the Murray-Pouille match was delayed for almost an hour due to rain.
“It was an awkward situation in the first game, I hit myself pretty hard on the ankle and bruised the bone”, he said.
Djokovic expects Murray to be a big threat to his hopes of a 12th Grand Slam title when the French Open begins at the end of the month.
Williams, who will aim for her fourth and second successive title in Paris in a fortnight, said: “You know, we’re an all-American final on the clay”.
Murray, who hails from Scotland, is the first British singles champion to take the Italian Open title since Virginia Wade did in 1971 when Virginia Wade defeated West Germany’s Hega Masthoff, 6-4, 6-4.
“I had to go out there and try to be patient and learn a little bit from the mistakes I made last week”. “I feel like Madison is one of the players that really can be great, and she has that potential, and now she’s showing that on all surfaces”. Murray has lost just nine games in his last two matches and it may be safe to say he’s now playing his best tennis of the season.
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Djokovic was not at his best and in a grumpy mood, complaining on several occasions to the umpire about the slippery court surface on a damp day at the Foro Italico.
