03. 05. 2011. ·
Photo: Srdjan Stevanovic
After winning the Serbia Open title in his hometown, the world no.2 Novak Djokovic continues his clay season at the second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament on clay in 2011, Mutua Madrid Open.
“It´s no secret that it’s been the best five months of my career. I´m on a great streak and I definitely want to keep on going,” Nole said on Tuesday press conference.
Second-seeded Novak has a first-round BYE. He will begin his campaign on Wednesday against world no.35 Kevin Anderson of South Africa who defeated Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-2, 6-4.
The 23-year-old Serb and Anderson are tied 1-1.
“He’s a big server and a very dangerous player to play against especially in these conditions because as we said, the ball flies very fast through the air here and for somebody who is that aggressive as he is, it’s quite suitable. A lot depends on me but also on his serve as well. If he serves very well and if he has a lot of efficiency on that serve, he can be very dangerous, so I expect a tough match.”
Novak’s potential opponents in the later stages of the tournament are:
3rd round: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP), Thiemo de Bakker (NED)
Quarterfinals: David Ferrer (ESP,6), John Isner (USA), Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)
Semifinals: Andy Murray (GBR,4), Tomas Berdych (CZE,7), Gael Monfils (FRA,9)
Defending champion Rafael Nadal (ESP,1), Roger Federer (SUI,3), Robin Soderling (SWE,5), Jurgen Melzer (AUT,8), Juan Martin del Potro (ARG),…are in the top half of the draw.
The event (€ 2,835,000) started on Sunday, May 1, and will be played until May 8.
Last year Nole pulled out of Madrid due to allergy and health problems he had during the Serbia Open 2010 tornament.
The winner of Madrid Masters will get €590,000 and 1000 ATP points.
