11/11/09 3:08 AM | Cheryl Murray
World No. 3 Novak Djokovic will take on popular Argentine Juan Monaco in his 2009 Paris Masters debut.
Novak Djokovic has been the premier player of the fall indoor swing. The Serb won Beijing, he made the semifinals at the Shanghai Masters (lost to Nikolay Davydenko) and last week he snagged the Basel title out from under hometown hero Roger Federer. The only good news in all of this for opponent Juan Monaco is that there is the faintest possibility that Djokovic will come into Wednesday’s match fatigued.
Djokovic as an opponent is Monaco’s first and biggest problem. The Serb is rock solid on any surface except grass – even Monaco’s preferred surface of clay. In fact, if the two men were contesting this match on the dirt, Djokovic would still be the favorite to win. Added to the tough opponent issue, Monaco has his own problems to deal with in terms of his hard court form. The Argentine collects his ranking points almost exclusively on clay courts. His game is just not effective on hards.
If Djokovic is playing anywhere near his potential, this match should fall under the “easy win” category. The Serb in straight sets.
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one more title Nole!!
I just realized that for a relatively bad year, Nole's had a pretty awesome one! Cheryl says he's the premier player this indoor season, he was definitely #2 on clay till RG..did reasonably well in the HC Masters..next year, Nole, all you need is a grand slam or three!
stu , 11/11/09 5:42 AM
bad year? Djokovic has been unbelievable this year. He has failed to reach the quarterfinals of just TWO tournaments. TWO. The entire year. Incredible.
RickyDimon , 11/11/09 5:59 AM
sucks that one of those had to be a Slam!
stu , 11/11/09 6:32 AM
one was a slam and the other was to Gulbis
hard to say which is worse...
RickyDimon , 11/11/09 7:10 AM
2010 looks promising, can't wait!
posmatrac , 11/11/09 7:16 AM
2010, here we come! :)
C'mon, Nole! :)
OllyK , 11/11/09 10:12 AM
Not entirely off-topic... but what is happening with Statistics, it has problem showing tab panes, and if more than one table is displayed, first is just repeated? Same in FF and IE?
atg , 11/11/09 11:48 AM
hows the match going guys? im only checking on with livescore..
mriiidula , 11/11/09 12:11 PM
mriiidula, I don't know what is happening with Nole right now...like he is not on the court at all...
OllyK , 11/11/09 12:24 PM
Am preparing for a rather major presentation tomorrow so am not watching a stream or attempting to find one...but Live Score's pretty messed up for me, I have to click on the match itself to find the scores which means I cannot follow two matches simultaneously; shudder to think what happens next when both matches are over if it remains stuck :(
mriiidula...am a little worried...Nole took the first set comfortably despite being broken once, double broke back. He broke Monaco in his opening game of the second set and got a 2-0 lead, but lost serve twice in a row; Monaco serving for match. :(
jyannis , 11/11/09 12:24 PM
ok, he WOKE UP, broke back and he's back in the game!!! Finally he started to HIT the ball. I thought he would loose this set...oh, Nole, don't do this to yourself (and us), anymore pls...
OllyK , 11/11/09 12:30 PM
Nole is serving for match...:-)
He did it again...in midle of mach...let's make my fans nervous litle bit...
But he is "NOLE" again, after 5:2 for monaco...now is 6:5 for Nole...
I love him...but he's gonna kill me one day...
zare , 11/11/09 12:43 PM
Finnito...strait set win...
I was watching on Ustream...picture was terible...any1 watch it???
How about body language...was he tired???
zare , 11/11/09 12:47 PM
HE WON! This was much tougher than I thought..
I know what you mean, zare..I'm gonna be gray in my 30 if he continues to do this... :)
OllyK , 11/11/09 12:49 PM
Yes Olja...and that important...my...it's so dificult not to love that kidd :-)
zare , 11/11/09 12:52 PM
My stupid typo said Monaco serving for match, obviously I meant SET. But anyway, irrelevant cos Nole pulled through in straights :)
On an off note, is anyone's livescore actually WORKING?
jyannis , 11/11/09 12:53 PM
My is OK
zare , 11/11/09 12:54 PM
Oh, you gotta love him!!! He is soo unique! :)
Btw, I was watching the match. I'm not sure if Nole was tired or just pissed cause he thought this would be an easy one.. We'll see tomorrow what's happening...:)
Anyway, congrats to all Nole fans!! In Nole we trust! ;)
OllyK , 11/11/09 12:59 PM
nope, my livescore was getting stuck all the time.
man, abt time he won! when he was up 2-0 in the second i was like, oh this is gonna be easy, but noooo, he had to give us a scare.
what the hell happened there when he lost 5 games in a arow???
ah well, a win's a win
mriiidula , 11/11/09 1:00 PM
Hi guys, olly you've said you'd be a gray in your 30ties, he, he, what would I say, I'm already gray, he made me crazy, even better I couldn't watch it, however, I think he's pretty tired, no excuses but very tiring season for him, anyway, having a hope he'll manage himself to get as far as possible on this very important tournament.
Cheers for all Nole fans...
gordana , 11/11/09 1:20 PM
Good win by Nole. Nice touch at the net by Nole on some ocasions, but overall a poor performance. Nole looked sleepy throughout the match. He was asleep from the very beginning and lost his opening game. Than woke up and won the set. Than fell asleep again in the 2nd set and gifted Monaco points and games and when he realized he is loosing the set, he woke up again and decided to put his foot on the gas pedal to win another set. Monaco is a notorious choker especially on hard courts and Nole played too much tennis of late. I hope he bounces back in keeps on going.......
arailic , 11/11/09 1:21 PM
I'll cut my nole suffix if my idol keeps dragging himself all over the court! Tired, not fresh, yes, yes,yes, but we're dieing here! Oh I kept cursing him, all right... Damn Gemini nature!
In Nole we trust (for the next year, obviously)!
Duronole , 11/11/09 1:45 PM
Watch it Duro, I'm a Gemini too!
sar , 11/11/09 8:12 PM
Ha ha ha! All Gemini are clever! Hey, sardino! What's up. Figure that out, if you can!
Duronole , 11/11/09 9:21 PM
i was kinda looking forward to a venegance match ag. Haas. it's probably for the best tho, coz he's starting to admit that he's tired..
stu , 11/11/09 11:07 PM
The first match on the system last night. A massive comeback for Djok and though I like the lad, I sincerely wanted to see Mono rise to the next supposedly without the explanation, of course! (Gold - I guess). And, it unfortunately was the hi-light of the evening with the Mone quite close to capture the second set but couldn't reach so, when the World No.3 caught up.. A quick sum up, the two players performed outstandingly and will be time as any for more!!!!
TAFARIANA , 11/12/09 1:49 AM
Duro, I love sardines and sar planina dogs.
sar , 11/12/09 5:22 AM
Duro, i love sardines.
sar , 11/12/09 5:22 AM
Sar, how do you know about Sar planina dogs!!! I'm absolutely amazed! Are you a Noleland origin as I am???
Duronole , 11/12/09 9:56 AM
Juan Monaco
Novak Djokovic
BNP Paribas Masters
vamosrafa, Feb 9, 2010 1:42 PM
croc, Feb 8, 2010 9:45 PM
sals3, Feb 8, 2010 4:04 PM
Kelli, Feb 8, 2010 12:40 AM
afrodite7, Feb 7, 2010 10:58 PM
carrie, Feb 9, 2010 2:02 PM
jyannis, Feb 9, 2010 1:53 PM
fedexfan, Feb 7, 2010 11:27 AM
he has to be tired right? he's been playing almost continuously since beijing..cept for one week in the middle somewhere. sigh, cmon nolee!!!
mriiidula , 11/11/09 4:59 AM