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5/4/09 2:19 AM | Ricky Dimon
Novak Djokovic won't have to think about his Rome loss to Rafael Nadal very long. The first-ever Serbia Open in Belgrade, hosted by the Djokovic family, kicks off on Monday.
The pride of Serbia worked hard to bring an ATP tournament to his home country, and that dream becomes reality this week in Belgrade. Novak Djokovic is ready to witness--and participate in--the inaugural Serbia Open, an ATP 250 tournament just like the two other ongoing tournaments. Directed by Goran Djokovic, Novak's uncle, the Serbia is all set to begin on Monday after great anticipation.
In its first year of existence and sandwiched in between two Masters Series events, the tournament was unable to lure any of the top players outside of Djokovic himself. After Radek Stepanek's recent withdrawal, world No. 21 Ivo Karlovic is the second highest ranked player in the field. Behind Djokovic and Karlovic, Igor Andreev is seeded third and Andreas Seppi is the No. 4 seed. Due to a main draw of just 28, those top four participants get byes into the second round.
The Serbian fans, however, won't be complaining about any perceived weakness in the field. In addition to Djokovic, Serbs Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki, Filip Krajinovic, and Arsenije Zlatanovic are in the main draw.
On the other hand, the Serbian fans cannot be happy with how the draw played out over the weekend. All three of the directly-entered Serbs (Krajinovic and Zlatanovic got wild cards) are in the same quarter of the draw. If Tipsarevic wins his opener against Sergio Roitman, he has to face Djokovic in the second round. Troicki is slated to do battle with either Djokovic or Tipsarevic in the quarterfinals. That means only one of Serbia's top three players can reach the semifinals. To make matters worse for Troicki, he is going up against dangerous American Sam Querrey in the first round on Monday night.
Krajinovic will take on Marcel Granollers the opening round and Zlatanovic is awaiting a qualifier.
Rounding out the eight seeded players are Troicki, Ivan Ljubicic, Arnaud Clement, and Christophe Rochus. Dangerous unseeded threats (other than Querrey and Tipsarevic) include Nicolas Massu, Wayne Odesnik, Guillermo Canas, Steve Darcis, and wildcard Marcos Baghdatis. Darcis and Clement will sqaure off in a first-round encounter, with the winner possibly running into Baghdatis.
Needless to say, Djokovic--a winner in Dubai and runner-up in Miami, Monte-Carlo, and Rome--is heavily favored to capture the Serbia Open's first title.
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Feeling great, cause tournament had started with qualifications two days ago, thankfully to all managing people from Serbia Open, tournament itself, looks fabulous so far, amazing entertainment and excellently organized event, feel so proud, and waiting for our Nole to come, I do love that guy, I truly admired him, I adore him, what he has shown to us so far, it's simply great, having hope, he'll continue with good play, cause it's starting to be very, very hot, he has to prove himself he could manage all the challenges appear very soon, God blessed you my dearest boy...
gordana , 5/4/09 9:58 AM
THE ONE AND ONLY: Novak Djokovic, SERBIA IS PROUD OF YOU!
noleisthebest , 5/4/09 3:51 PM
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correction....
"Directed by Goran Djokovic, Novak's father...",
Goran Djokovic is Novak's uncle (his father's brother).
bianca , 5/4/09 3:07 AM