Draw has been made for the Sony Ericsson Open tournament in Miami, the second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in 2012.
Nole, world no.1 and top seed, has a first-round BYE. Defending champion will open his campaign against world no.42 Cipriot Marcos Baghdatis who defeated no.77 in the ATP rankings, Argentine Leonardo Mayer in straight sets.
The 24-year-old Belgrade native will play his second round match on Saturday, March 24, at 20.00 local time (Sunday at 01.00 CET).
Novak’s potential opponents in the later stages of the tournament are:
3rd round: Viktor Troicki (SRB, 27)
4th round: Feliciano Lopez (ESP, 15), Richard Gasquet (FRA, 17)
Quarter-finals: David Ferrer (ESP, 5), Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG, 11)
Semi-finals: Roger Federer (SUI, 3), Mardy Fish (USA, 8), Andy Roddick (USA, 31)
Rafael Nadal (ESP,2), Andy Murray (GBR, 4), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA, 6), Tomas Berdych (CZE, 7), Janko Tipsarevic (SRB, 9), John Isner (USA, 10)… are in the bottom half of the draw.
Last year Nole won his second Miami Masters trophy beating Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in the final. In 2007, he defeated Argentine Guillermo Canas in the best of five finale, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Novak is looking to add his third Sony Ericsson Open crown to his collection of 10 Masters 1000 titles.
