Djokovic takes on Bolelli in Halle opener

Article

Djokovic takes on Bolelli in Halle opener

6/8/09 11:23 PM | Ricky Dimon
On Tuesday in Halle, Novak Djokovic will make his first appearance since a disappointing loss at the French Open. He faces a tough test in Simone Bolelli.

Novak Djokovic and Simone Bolelli will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they meet in the first round of the Gerry Weber Open on Tuesday afternoon. Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 2-0, after prevailing twice last season at the Australian Open and the Masters Series Cincinnati. This encounter will be their first on grass.

In between Djokovic's first and last tournaments of this season (lost to Ernests Gulbis in the Brisbane first round and lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the French Open third round), the world No. 4 was in outstanding form. He finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal in both Monte-Carlo and Rome and he had three match points against the top-ranked Spaniard in the Madrid semifinals. The Serb also won titles in Dubai and Belgrade.

Bolelli has a ton of potential, but the 23-year-old Italian isn't quite putting it all together. So far this season he owns a mediocre 10-14 match record at the ATP level. Bolelli has won back-to-back matches just once this season; at the Masters Series Monte-Carlo. He upset Tomas Berdych in his Roland Garros opener before falling to Jeremy Chardy (both were five-setters).

The world No. 66 has the talent to give Djokovic some problems despite being an obvious heavy underdog. His big serve and punishing groundstrokes should work well on grass, but he would probably like more time to set up his one-handed backhand. Djokovic still has something to prove on the slick stuff, but it's clear he can get the job done on any surface. Bolelli has never taken a set from Djokovic (although two tiebreakers were needed in Cincinnati), and the pick here is another tight straight-set match with Djokovic advancing.

Check out Simone Bolelli and Novak Djokovic head-to-head statistics

Tell a friend »

Save to »
- Facebook
- del.icio.us
- ma.gnolia
- Yahoo! My Web
- Digg
- Google Bookmarks
- Reddit
- Technorati
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Live it!

Comments

Oh please win this, Nole! Glad to have you back on the scene!

stu , 6/9/09 1:24 AM

C'mon boy, I've missed your game, just remind us how nice tennis you could play...

gordana , 6/9/09 9:08 AM

I hope Novak can win this but there are a lot of dangerous player around, he will have his hands full.

torres9 , 6/9/09 10:44 AM

Nole has already beaten Federer this year so I hope we see a final between these two, it's going to be very interesting prior to Wimbledon :)

Shireling , 6/9/09 12:05 PM

Good luck to Nole. I really hope he will win in Halle. It would give him more confidence at Wimbly and make it interesting. He lost a tight final to Rafa at Queens last year but went out in Rn 2 to Safin so I hope he performs better on grass this year overall.

jean , 6/9/09 12:25 PM

Well done dear...

gordana , 6/9/09 3:16 PM

Well done to Nole i really hope he does well at Wimbledon this year.
Nole and and Rafa seem to have been having a tough few weeks recently. Hope they can both get over it and play some wonderful and beautiful tennis at Wimbledon.

TopDog , 6/9/09 4:17 PM

Ricky, how did Nole play, I read he fell few times due to a slippery grass?

posmatrac , 6/9/09 6:26 PM

TopDog...............you are right....Nole and Rafa have had a few tough weeks.......but it should only make them stronger in the way of building character and improving their games......so thats no biggie....its up to them to take positives from the past few weeks.

Remember too........Federer has also had a tough one and a half years!!!!!.......hey!..it happens to the best of them!

MonaLisa , 6/9/09 10:27 PM

Wow. Fed dropped out of Halle. This changes _every_thing. Scary.

stu , 6/9/09 11:48 PM

I hope Nole takes the title. He deserves it! Honestly, a year ago I didn't like Nole for his attitude and actions but I have been saying for awhile now that Nole has definitely matured in the last year. He is a great tennis player and the times he and Rafa were in the finals recently, it was a shame that they could not share the titles. He is gracious in victory and defeat and Rafa respects him and vice versa. He is also charitable and I won't forget him taking the time out (in December) to take part in Rafa and Iker's charity for malaria tennis match.

fan4tennis , 6/10/09 1:13 AM

Write comment

You have to be logged in to comment. If you do not have an account, click here to register. It only takes a minute and you'll be redirected back to this page.