Year in which Novak turned his focus on playing bigger ATP events. In Australia, he qualified for the first time to play in the main draw of a Grand Slam. Later that year, he won another ATP challenger event in San Remo, after which he won his first round match at Roland Garros. He also qualified into Wimbledon main draw and reached 3rd round. The experience helped him move up the rankings and he entered the top 100 for the first time. He reached 3rd round at the US Open.
In Paris Bercy, in his last tournament of the year, he beat Mariano Puerta, at that time the 9th player in the world, and reached the third round. This enabled him to finish the season ranked as no.78.
