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The draw has been made for Sony Ericsson Open, the second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in 2009. The tournament in Miami which is often called the fifth Grand Slam, starts on Wednesday March 25th, and will be played for $4,500,000 prize money.
Novak is no.3 seed and he will begin his quest for his second Sony Ericsson Open title in the second round against qualifier Frank Dancevic who defeated German Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets 6-4 7-6(2). Djokovic won their only match at ATP Masters Series Canada last year. The result was 6-4 6-4.
Djokovic’s possible opponents in the later stages of the tournament are:
3rd round: Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA,31), Marcos Baghdatis (CYP), Ernests Gulbis (LAT)
4th round: James Blake (USA,13), Tomas Berdych (CZE,21), Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
Quarterfinals: Gilles Simon (FRA,7), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA,10), Robin Soderling (SWE,23), Lleyton Hewitt (AUS,WC)
Semifinals: Roger Federer (SUI,2), Andy Roddick (USA,5)
Rafael Nadal (ESP,1), Andy Murray (GBR,4), Fernando Verdasco (ESP,8), Fernando Gonzalez (CHI,12), David Nalbandian (ARG,14)…are in the top half of the draw.
Last year Novak lost in the second round to qualifier Kevin Anderson (RSA). The result was 6-7(1) 6-3 4-6. World number three won his first career Masters title in Miami two years ago.
Defending champion Nikolay Davydenko withdrew from this year’s tournament due to a foot infection.
