The draw has been made for Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament on clay in 2012.
Nole is a top seed and has a first-round BYE. The 2012 Australian Open and Miami champion will begin his campaign against either world no.43 Italian Andreas Seppi or a qualifier.
Djokovic has a 6-0 H2H record with Seppi, they last met in Madrid in 2009.
Novak’s potential rivals in the later stages of the tournament are:
3rd round: Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR, 16), Bernard Tomic (AUS)
Quarter-finals: David Ferrer (ESP, 5), Juan Monaco (ARG,11), Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)
Semi-finals: Andy Murray (GBR, 3), Tomas Berdych (CZE, 6), Kei Nishikori (JPN)
Defending champion Rafael Nadal (ESP, 2), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA, 4), Janko Tipsarevic (SRB, 7), Nicolas Almagro (ESP, 8), Feliciano Lopez (ESP, 10)…are in the bottom half of the draw.
The tournament begins on Sunday, April 15, and will be played until April 22.
Last year Nole skipped Monte Carlo, so he can only gain points.
This will be Novak’s sixth appearance at the Masters event (11-5 record). His best result is 2009 final when he lost to Rafael Nadal in three sets.
The Spain’s world no.2 won an Open Era record seventh successive title there last year, defeating his fellow countryman David Ferrer in the final.
