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5/14/09 3:00 AM | Ricky Dimon
Novak Djokovic and Andres Seppi will square off for the second time in six days when they meet at the Masters Series Madrid on Thursday. A spot in the quarterfinals is at stake.
Novak Djokovic and Andreas Seppi will do battle for the sixth time in their careers and second time in as many weeks when they go head-to-head in the third round of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open on Thursday. Djokovic has won all five of their previous encounters, including a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory last week in Belgrade on the way to a title at the inaugural Serbia Open.
Djokovic won't have the same kind of crowd support this time around, but he is still heavily-favored to make it a perfect 6-0 against Seppi. Madrid's No. 3 seed not only triumphed in Belgrade, but he is also coming off back-to-back runner-up finishes to Rafael Nadal at the past two clay-court Masters Series events, first in Monte-Carlo and then in Rome. Djokovic's other notable results in 2009 include the semifinals in Sydney, the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, the semifinals in Marseille, a title in Dubai, the quarterfinals of the Masters Series Indian Wells, and a runner-up finish at the Masters Series Miami. In his first match as the new world No. 4 (he was surpassed by Andy Murray), the Serb rolled over Oscar Hernandez 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday afternoon.
Just as Seppi showed in Belgrade, he is almost always a tough opponent. The Italian is ranked 36th in the world, just nine spots off his career-high of No. 27. However, Seppi is only in mediocre form so far this season. He heads into this third-round clash with an 11-13 match record for his 2009 campaign on the ATP World Tour. Prior to Belgrade he had no semifinal or even quarterfinal appearances and he had not even won back-to-back matches. But in Madrid, Seppi has already won back-to-back matches for a second straight week. He cruised past qualifier Eduardo Schwank in round one before defeating Sam Querrey 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Wednesday.
Belgrade's No. 4 seed has lost 10 of 12 sets against Djokovic in five matches, the first four of which came on hard courts. Although he is not exactly a clay-court specialist, Seppi has his best chance against Djokovic on the slow stuff and that showed in Belgrade. The underdog does his damage by keeping the ball in play, and while that often works against out-of-form opponents, it probably won't be enough against an on-fire Djokovic. Seppi's only real hope is for Djokovic to finally start showing signs of fatigue from so much recent tennis. That might turn out to be the case for a brief stretch on Thursday, but look for Djokovic to once again prevail in three.
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Djokovic in 2 though sets
Marko , 5/14/09 6:53 AM