Novak Djokovic Tennis

Novak ahead of US Open 2009

2009-08-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

Novak vs. Roger, Cincinnati August 2009

Novak Djokovic Photos

2009-08-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

Novak Djokovic's US Open Part Of The Season

2008-08-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

It's been some time since the last post here at Novak's fan blog, now it's time to look back on Novak's progress in the last 4 months. Novak's career was in co-relationship with a group of youngsters from Belgrade Serbia who took the world of tennis by surprised to come from a small country with not great tennis tradition.

Other youngsters from that group include WTA tennis players Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic. They were like a group of runners constantly changing leads through the course of the race at the start of their pro tennis careers in chase to World #1 position, as one of them first broke out into the Top 100, other 2 would follow, then into the Top 20, Top 10...

At the time of being, the last Grand Slam of the season, US Open, is underway. Currently Ana Ivanovic is WTA World #1 and Jelena Jankovic WTA World #2 with Ana and Jelena changing places at the top of WTA rankings since Wimbledon, while Novak remained where he was this time last year ranked ATP #3.

Novak didn't follow Ana's and Jelena's progress up the rankings now being so close to #1 position. After a dream start of the season when Novak won first career Grand Slam title, followed by the title at the season's first Masters Series tournament, Novak did not improve in his play and up the rankings.

Having a career of constant progress, as if Novak was 'stagnating' for the past 5 months. We should never forget Novak from his junior and first pro career days, that gutsy player who had only one goal in mind, to overthrow Roger Federer, at the time ATP #1 and by some possible the best player in tennis history.

Last year was awesome for Novak, the beginning of this year promised fulfillment of ultimate tennis dreams, it seemed nothing could stop Novak on the way to ATP #1. Then came a small party time in Los Angeles celebrating the Indian Wells title and a huge shock few days later at Master Series Miami, loss in first match against a player ranked outside of Top #100, as Novak said prior to the start of the match he knew little about his opponent.

Novak slipped in Miami when no one saw it coming, all eyes were on how fast Novak could reach Roger up in the rankings, could it happen even before Roland Gaross, by Wimbledon, US Open or at least by the time of season's finale at Masters Series Cup in Shanghai.

After Miami, Novak had decent results according to ATP #3 reputation, though not spectacular results. Novak featured in Quarterfinals/Semifinals/Finals of Masters Series Tournaments, Semifinal of Roland Gaross, only R64 in Wimbledon, Bronze medal at the Olympics. Novak did not won anything which is a virtue of a champion, he sticked around while Rafael Nadal became new ATP #1.

Success at US Open can still make this season be up to expectations, it would give him a chance to finish the year ahead of Roger Federer at ATP #2 position. Novak has already won $3.5 million in prize money and this will be his most successful season in won prize money, he is currently ranked #2 in ATP Race...

Prior to the beginning of the season, many agreed that Australian Open and Wimbledon titles were reserved for Roger, Roland Gaross for Rafael and US Open for Novak. Novak doesn't seem like a steaming machine entering US Open with months of no won title, but it makes US Open title be that greater challenge.

Today Novak will play in Round 3 against a player ranked outside of Top 100, there were no greater problems for Novak to conduct wins in Round 1 and 2, he is in pretty decent form. Novak can use the opportunity of Roger not playing the perfect tennis from last seasons.

Rafael has had fantastic season behind him, 2 Grand Slams won, including Olympic Gold 10 days ago, and may not have enough fire in him needed to win US Open, as much as Rafael has improved his play on fast surfaces, US Open's hard court suits Novak the best.

We hope for Novak to be in good health (had smaller problem twisting his ankle in round 1) and win the US Open. Ana and Jelena have already tasted the flavour of being World #1, now it's on Novak to match their achievement, if not by the end of this year than maybe in the fist part of the 2009 season, the US Open title is the best place from where to start that quest.

I Take A Pause, Novak Continues To ATP World #1

2008-04-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

Due to a number of reasons, I won't be writing the blog at usual frequent pace. Through the blogging pause, take a look at video of Novak winning first Grand Slam title with many more to come. I'll be here to post the video of Novak winning his second Grand Slam title somewhere in the near future :)

Novak Djokovic Remains ATP #3

2008-04-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

In this morning's, Monday April 14th, ATP list Novak Djokovic remained at #3 position with 4785 points. Roger Federer is at #1 with 6600 points, Roger Federer at #2 with 5930 points, and Nikolay Davydenko at #4 with 3175.

Novak still leads in the Race with 331 points while Rafael is at #2 with 249 and Nikolay at #3 with 191 points. Novak decided not to participate in Estoril played this week where he won title in 2007. Novak will next be on court in Monte Carlo (21-18 April) played on red clay for the total prize money $2.270.000.

As for the rumor we covered in last post about Maria Sharapova being related to Novak on personal level, it most likely is a false info, I participated in one forum on the Internet and most people there stated that the given pictures of Maria and Novak were taken on March 26th during Sony Ericsson Party (official event).

The only reason I mentioned that rumor is that most news agancies covered it as well, though those kind of rumors where some website would turn things around to drow publicity are not worth everyone's time, as a celebrity Novak will always be a target of rumors.

Novak Djokovic And Maria Sharapova In Doubles Offcourt

2008-04-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

The biggest news after first 3 months of the season seemed to be that Roger Federer has not won anything yet. At the beginning of April, even bigger news, or news of the year, could be... well I'm not the one who is spreading gossip around but since everyone started talking about... rumors say Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova may be a couple.

Swedish site dedicated to tennis (tennistalk.com) published the above picture of Novak and Maria at a party in Miami. Here can be seen video of Maria and Novak leaving the club together on the back seat of Maria's cars while her agent was driving: http://x17video.com/celebrity_video/while_you_were_sleeping/maria_sharipova_at_night.php

This all is just a rumor, since this Novak's fan blog covers everything related to Novak, I covered the story or rumor whatever it is at the moment. Tennistalk.com said more that Novak enjoyed himself at the Opium Garden in Miami on March 28th with Maria and him not leaving the club until very late (later than midnight).

Tennistalk.com goes a step further presuming that Novak's late night partying is the cause of Novak's most shocking defeat ever since he entered Top 10, loss at Miami Open where he was defending champion in the first match against World #122 Kevin Anderson. Tennistalk.com could surely be right about that, no one saw that loss coming especially after Novak won Indian Wells a week earlier.

Tennistalk.com states more: 'It also appeared that he had been drinking alcohol even though we do not have any pictures of it, just our eye-witnesses'. Since there were no pictures or video, we will discard this fact being too much of a speculation.

Being on the subject, let us look back at how Novak - Maria connection started. Novak's impersonations of other players, one of the funniest things inside and outside of the world of sports last year, brought to Novak great popularity with the fans and media, ATP official website calls him 'the entertaining Serb'.

Novak's most successful impersonation was of Maria Sharapova. Maria commentated Novak's impersonation of her with a smile saying if she is to do Novak impersonation it would be a very boring one since all she would do is tap the ball before the serve for infinite period of time (referring to the fact that Novak taps the ball against the ground too many times before serving).

Novak's impersonation of other player, especially of Maria, became so popular that wherever Novak played fans and hosts at the tournament asked him to do the impersonations for everyone's enjoyment.

Maria than said that Novak is offering nothing new and that his constant impersonations of her are becoming boring. Novak also felt he done the impersonations too many times but, like it could have been seen in the video we posted in February, fans and hosts of the tournaments started insisting on Novak to do impersonations to make everyone smile.

Novak had and still has a girlfriend he is with for some time now. Maria, to my knowledge, is single and I don't recall her having a boyfriend in recent year(s). Did Maria started having sympathies towards Novak after his first impersonations of her stays unclear.

Just, remarkable thing happen during US Open in August/September 2007. Maria lost early in Round 3 but did not go home to Florida and stayed in NYC to follow US Open later matches that 'concidently' Novak played and went all the way to the Final.

Not just attending Novak's game, Maria was sitting in the Novak's stuff box seats, along with Novak's family and coaches. Some may say that many celebrities were in the Novak's stuff box seats including one of the most famous American actors Robert De Niro, so no wonder Maria was there too consider Maria is Russian and Novak is Serb, 2 nations closely related.

Amazing was Maria's behavior while sharing the box seats along with Novak's family. Maria, a donghty tennis winning machine on court, seemed like the nicest girl around every mother could wish for her son, her make up and clothing was measurable, she was smiling and shining as if she was enjoying being almost a part of the family.

In the following months nothing happened on Novak - Maria subject, Novak was the same with his girlfriend and Maria single. At Hopman Cup in early January some talks started about Serena Williams having a small crush on Novak (I mean how good impersonator Novak really is, they say you won a half of women's heart by knowing how to make her smile:).

In the Hopman Cup final match USA-Serbia, Serena was all in smiles and at some extent it made me wish to check if Serena has a boyfriend so I could cover that rumor in full. Hopman Cup passed with no breaking stories or rumors to follow.

The sea was still all until March 28 and a party at Opium Club in Miami and today, April 10th, that tennistalk.com published the newest rumor public. At the time of being, Novak is resting and will skip Estoril starting next week while Maria is playing at Amelia Island where she has won today against A. Medina Garrigues and tomorrow will play in the Quarterfinals.

By the way, Novak and Maria are the same age, born in 1987, Maria in April (19th, next Saturday), Novak in May.

Novak Djokovic Presents Monography

2008-04-06T03:11:00.000-07:00

Novak Djokovic promoted his monography 'My First Grand Slam' on Saturday, April 06, in his home town Belgrade, during that occasion hosted in the French cultural center, he expressed hopes the readers will enjoy reading his first book.

Novak: 'Winning Australian Open in January is the biggest success of my career, fulfillment of the dream. On top of that, I had the prevelage to do it already at the age of 20, I won over many good tennis players, among them the best one (Roger Federer)'.

Novak: 'Even now when I look at this book, I get chills and it brings me back to the central court in Melbourne'. Novak excused himself to the French ambasador for the lack of knowledge of French language: 'Never mind, the time will come for me to work on it as I plan to win Roland Gaross as well'.

The French ambasador Teral said Novak is the picture that Frenchmen have about Serbia - young ,dynamic and with perspective, he added: 'I have two wishes, for Novak to win Roland Gaross and for Serbia to join European Union'.

During the conference, Novak signed his monography for the fans. The book costs 2650 dinars (~30€, $50). The publisher is 'Family Sport' which is partly owned by Novak and where Novak's father Srdjan is the editor.

In the news around ongoing Miami Open, later today, Saturday April 06, Rafael Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko will play for the title in the Final match, Rafael won over Thomas Berdych and Nikolay against Andy Roddick in the Semifinals.

Video: Novak Djokovic Book Presentation April 04 2008

2008-04-06T03:09:00.000-07:00

Video: Novak Djokovic In Kosovska Mitrovica

2008-04-06T03:03:00.000-07:00

Novak Djokovic Prolongs Sponsorship Deal

2008-04-05T01:52:00.000-07:00

Novak Djokovic prolonged the sponsorship deal with Telecom Serbia on Friday, April 04, successful cooperation that lasts for 5 years already, and now should boost Novak's aspirations toward the ATP World #1 position.

Novak said: 'It's my great pleasure for our long-lasting cooperation to continue. Telecom is one of the rare companies that backed me up since the beginning of my career. As a top sportsman and perfectionist I want to have the best cooperators around me, that's why I hope my cooperation with Telecom will last for a long time in the future'.

Branko Radujkov, Telecom's general director, said: 'I thank Novak for finding time to promote continuation of our cooperation. Telecom Serbia supports sportsmen not only those on the top, but when they need it too. Telecom recognized a champion in Novak at the very beginning of his career and that's why we are very proud. We'll continue to support him certain he will become World #1 and stay there for a long time'.

Director of mobile phone sector, Vladimir Lucic, presented Novak a 'BlackBerry' and made him the first mt:s user of 'BlackBerry Internet Service', while general director of Serbian Post Service, Goran Cilic, presented a post stamp with Novak on it as a part of 'Olympic Tennis Team of Serbia'.

During this occasion, Novak commentated on the clay season he starts preparing for in 2 days, that he was to start by defending Estoril title but decidated to pass on it: 'Clay is one of the hardest surfaces because it requests a lot of physical effort and you need to give more than your maximum. I have two weeks before Monte Carlo tournament, then come Rome and Hamburg and as a crown of this part of the season Roland Gaross'.

Novak: 'As the most successful (ATP) tennis player in 2008 there are a lot of expectations and preasure, but it's all part of the sport. I'll try to keep constancy of results and to reach first two place in the ATP rankings by the end of the year'.

Asked what it is that Roger Federer has and he does not in order to win two tournaments in a row, Novak said in his manner: 'Nothing! He had a postal stamp, now I have it too.. just kidding, he's 26, I am 20. Even though I'm World #3 and winner of a Grand Slam, I'm still learning. If I continue like that I believe I'll get where I want to be'.

Novak Djokovic Off-court Week

2008-04-04T01:18:00.000-07:00

After canceling participation at Estoril that starts in 10 days, Novak has more time to rest and for off-court activities. Yesterday, Wednesday April 03, Novak visited Kosovo, southern part of Serbia that recently declared independence by non-Serb population.

Along with humanitarian help that Serbs receive living in harsh conditions in Kosovo, Novak gave his spiritual support. Greeted by thousands of people in Kosovska Mitrovica, Novak said: We have once again shown how many of us there are, and that we are fighting. All of my victories are your victories too. You must know that both me and my family will always be with you. I love you'.

Novak: 'This place is really deep, deep within my heart, I will keep returning here always, whenever I can, and I will provide support to the people that need it the most'.

Novak's father was born in Zvecan, town near Kosovska Mitrovica in the north part of Kosovo where majority of remaining Serb population lives now. Novak is a honorary citizen of Zvecan. He recently donated a fully equipped ambulance to the Kosovska Mitrovica health center and is financing the construction of a tennis center in Zvecan.

Novak's yesterday's schedule included addressing citizens in the Sumadija squer in the norther part of Kosovska Mitrovica, an hour later he met supporters in the Zvecan tennis court. On the picture is Novak with young Serbs living in Kosovo dressed in traditional cloths.

Novak will tomorrow, Saturday April 05, promote his monography 'My first Grand Slam' and will be giving autographs in his home town Belgrade around noon time and it's a great opportunity for all Novak's fans to see him in person.

Novak Djokovic Will Not Play In Estoril

2008-04-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

Portuguese media announced that Novak will not defend his title in Estoril (Portugal) due to his exhaustion and need to rest. Estoril marks the beginning of clay season, even though Novak is not a 'specialist' for a particular surface (like Roger Federer is for grass and Rafael Nadal for clay), Novak said he prefers clay the least.

The line-up of players participating in Estoril is significant for a €370.000 event, to name the few: Roger Federer, Nikolay Davydenko, Ivo Carlovic... and interestingly for the first time there will be no Spaniards participating in the tournament.

To remind us on Estoril 2007, Novak won the title as a #3 against Richard Gasquet in 3 sets, 7:6(7) 0:6 6:1 after 2 hours and 12 minutes of play. Winner of Estoril will earn 200 ATP points and €74.000 in prize money, finalist 140 ATP points and €43,700, semifinalists 90 ATP points...

In the news around ongoing Miami Open, players that have made it through to the Quarterfinals include Roger Federer, Andy Roddick... while Rafael Nadal is to play against James Blake today, Wednesday April 02, at 2pm local time (EDT, 8pm CET).

Novak Djokovic In As Unpleasant Interview As It Can Be

2008-04-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

After early exit from Miami Open, and two week pause until Estoril (Portugal), Novak took time to visit Gustavo Kuerten's (triple champion of Roland Gaross) fare-well-to-tennis party in Miami, along with Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alberto Costa, Nicolas Lapentti and Magnus Norman. Novak then flew back to Europe and his home town Belgrade.

Today, Wednesday April 02, it has been announced that Belgrade will likely host a WTA Tier II $750.000 tournament in 2009 where Ana Ivanovic (WTA World #2) and Jelena Jankovic (WTA World #3) should participate in. Novak and his family have expressed their wishes to invest $10 million in buying land to build tennis facilities for hosting an ATP tournament in Belgrade. Novak will likely spend time in Belgrade to talk with the city officials on that matter.

Novak has also appeared in the April's addition of 'Mens Vogue' where a reporter visited Novak in Belgrade and interview him. In an extended text that was a combination of an 'amusing' travel journal and a rather unpleasant moments Novak was brought to, the author presented Novak's home country as a country with broken economy devostated with wars where Novak is a nation's 'redeemer'.

Here is what Novak had to say about his popularity: 'People recognize me and I don't want to say bother me but they just come up. It's not really relaxing. All eyes on you'.

Journalist made an unpleasant situation when turning the subject to politics, and related Novak's 'three fingers' salutation after the victories with 'war death squads'.

Novak said: I'm not extremist. Three fingers is our symbol. It's like you have two fingers for peace. Three fingers is for us, for Serbia. That's what all the people throughout the history of this country did, when they are successful and when they want to show where they're from'.

The author then, right after Novak's words, put in parenthesis that what Novak said is not true and, as author states: 'the salute was popularized in the early 1990s by a a nationalism intellectual'. (the real meaning of 3 fingers dates from the year of 1054, and is a Christian sign for Christian Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

The text and choice of questions were as paculiar and surprising as they could have been considering it was for 'Mens Vogue' (fashion/lifestyle magazine!?), the author took time to fly to Belgrade, write a prolonged monologue with only handful words coming back from Novak, the author could have written the text from home and ask Novak those few questions in a 5mins telephone conversation as well.

After Novak won the season's first Master Series tournament in Indian Wells, and saw early exit in Miami after which most commentators, including Novak himself, pointed out he did not take enough time to rest and was physically too exhausted, Novak said he will take more time to rest after Miami.

Though, Novak attended Gustavo's farewell party.. flew back to Europe... tomorrow will take a 400km car trip to the south of his home country that will be covered by all media.. in all, being a World celebrity gives little time for Novak to rest.

Video: Novak Djokovic practice at Miami Open 2008

2008-03-29T06:29:00.001-07:00

Miami Open: 'What Happened' And Interviews

2008-03-29T06:02:00.000-07:00

Aside the great play Kevin Anderson performed we talked about yesterday, analyses partly point to Novak not having freshness and concentration as one of the reasons of his failure in first match at Miami Open.

Novak talking about loss of concentration leading 2:0 in the final set when the time violation warning came (Novak took too much time to tap the ball before serving): 'I didn't focus myself in that moment. Obviously, the time violation and a lot of different things affected on my service game loss. But, you know, that's okay. It's all part of the game'.

'During one long-exchange of shots during last game, my shoe lace was broken. Of course I won't look for excuses for it. Kevin deserved to win. I tried to lift myself after losing first game but it was obvious I had not freshness for it'.

Novak looked back on his physical condition after the exhausting week before in Indian Wells and everything that followed after the winning ceremony: 'Well, I tried to recover, but obviously I was a little bit tired from the start. But it was okay, you know. I could play, but the thing is that I didn't know the way he's playing. It was our first meeting, and I never saw him playing before'.

'He surprised me with the way he was serving. I wasn't moving on my returns good enough, and obviously that resulted in easy service games. He was winning too easy in the first set his service games, and I wasn't aggressive enough. Then when I needed to use my chances in the third set, I made some unforced errors which were really crucial'.

'I made some unforced errors and I was maybe going for too much. Obviously, he's really tall, and with that height you expect him not to move so well. But he obviously has a good coordination. He has a good feel for the ball. So he's a good player'.

Kevin: 'I don't know what to say. I only tried to give myself a chance to win. I kept telling myself I can do and I need to believe in it. Knowing what kind of player Novak is and everything what he accomplished, this is an amazing experience for me. I can compete with the best players in the world. I proved that to myself, regardless if my opponent is in or out of form'.

Novak said he does not consider he was involved in too much off-court activities in between the tournaments to cause him not take enough rest. Novak did not know anything about Kevin prior to the game nor ever saw him play.

Looking for the 'positive' side in it all, Novak said: 'The good thing about this loss is that I can get a bit longer period of preparation and vacation as well'. Novak will now have more than 2 weeks of rest until April 14th and the tournament in Estoril Portugal when clay season officially begins.

Miami Open: Novak Djokovic Lost In First Match

2008-03-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

Novak Djokovic lost in Round 2 (his first match in the tournament) against Kevin Anderson in 3 sets, 7:6(1) 3:6 6:4. The only way to describe the match is 'ups'!

Kevin, who played 'futures' and 'challengers' just 3 months ago, showed in early stage of the match just how much he improved. He won his service games with easy and gave no chances to Novak for breaks.

The only break point Novak had was at 6:5 and 40:30, unfortunately he did not use the opportunity and the set went to tie-break. Usually this ment 'no problemo' for winning the set for Novak who is known as 'king of the tie-breaks' but this time Novak was himself.

In tie-break Novak won only 1 point, even that 1 point was thanks to Kevin who made a double service fault when leading 1:0.

Second set made the things look like coming to their place after 1:1 and 2:2 Novak made a break for 3:2 lead, then another break in 9th game for 6:3 in 2nd set. Novak had psychological advantage entering the 3rd set, though Kevin still had nothing to lose.

3rd set started ideally for Novak win 2:0 lead. What happened afterwards is a subject to analyses and comments in the upcoming period, Kevin started playing as if in trance and turned things around to have 4:2 lead.

Novak gave his everything, he narrowed the margine to 3:4 and 4:5, but in the last game after being down 15:40, he managed to make it 40:40, but he didn't managed to defend 3 match point.

Kevin, current World #122, made a sensation in Miami by eliminating defending champion and World #3 Novak after 2 hours and 21 minutes of play. Anderson will match up with Igor Andreev in next round, the player Novak always wins against, 'auch'!

Unexpected early exit in Miami will cost Novak to lose almost all 500 ATP points he won in Miami last year as the title winner. This will not make Novak lose World #3 position as he is ahead of World #4 Nikolay Davydenko by more than 2.5000 points but he made a big step back in chase for World #2 Rafael Nadal and World #1 Roger Federer.

After winning first Grand Slam of the season, then first Master Series Tournament played in Indian Wells last week, Novak was praised even by World #1 as real title contender, but now summing the month achievents of playing Master Series tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami, Novak even degressed as he was last year's Indian Wells finalist and did not earn too many ATP points for winning it this year, after debacle in Miami Novak lost a huge number of ATP points.

As I moved through the apartment and heard someone mentioning Jelena Jankovic on TV, I said to my sister that Novak lost in his first match in Miami, she replied 'he must to have been tired'!? :)

Well, this could be one of the reasons. After a long and exhausting 10 days in Indian Wells, and after the Final match, Novak flew to Los Angeles where he attended NBA games, etc, and he didn't seem to give himself much time to rest.

This does not diminish Kevin's great form, from participating in 'futures' and 'challengers' a couple of months ago, he made it to the final of Las Vegas as a qualifier at the beginning of March, achieved career high World #121 position on March 10, now won against World #3 in Miami.

Still, no one saw it coming, not Novak who was probably still in celebration mood after Indian Wells ready to defend his title in Miami, not this fan blog who didn't find it necessary to go through player profiles of Novak's opponent in early Round with the prospect for Novak's win more than likely.

I just went through Official ATP website to see if Kevin ever won against a player from Top 30 but his 'career highlights/bio' is empty, this is probably because he was never Top 100 player.

The best thing of it all, he's older than Novak (Kevin is 22) and you would never guess when Kevin turned pro... in the second part of 2007!? In 3 months of 2008 he will earn at least 5 times more than during his entire career (in 2007 that is). Another interesting fact about Kevin is his height 2 (6'7") making him one of the tallest players in the ATP Tour.

Congratulations to Kevin and we wish him luck against Igor Andreev in Round 3 which would be the biggest success of his career to reach so far away if he is to win that match, Kevin already secured new career highest ranking with Round 2 win against Novak.

We expected to have a lot to write day-to-day about Novak's plays in Miami, today it's one big 'auch' and we will add Novak's interviews in the following days. Once again, auch...

Roger Federer And Bjern Borg Praise Novak Djokovic

2008-03-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

'Once upon a time' world best tennis player Bjern Borg expressed in Spanish sports newspapers 'Marka' his belief that Novak Djokovic will soon overthrow Roger Federer from #1 position: 'It's obvious that Novak will become world #1 soon'.

Winner of 11 Grand Slams added that Novak is not the only one contending for the world #1 position: 'When you see him play, you see he shines out great open-heartiness and huger for victories', said Bjern who ended his career at the age of 28.

Bjern said that imititations that Novak makes are of equal quality to Novak's good tennis play, added: 'I wouldn't mind Novak imitate me one day as well'.

And this is what the World #1 himself, Roger Federer, had to say in interview given in Miami this week: 'I know that Novak wants my throne and for now he is on his best way, but I am still not for „old iron“. I’ll fight despite illness that is bothering me in my quest to stay at the throne as long as possible.

Roger: 'I am surprised just how much Djokovic has gotten serious on court. He is playing phenomenally; and that he is at the moment the best in the world, is indicated with big tournaments, where he en-route beat Nadal at Montreal and Indian Wells, and myself at Montreal and Melbourne'.

Roger: 'Djokovic has all to become my successor, but I also have ambitions to remain no. 1, and there many other tennis players who also want my spot. In any case, I sincerely congratulate Novak on his successes, and I am eagerly looking forward to our next meeting so I could get my revenge (sporting meaning)'.

Video: Novak Djokovic Attends LA Lakers NBA Game

2008-03-26T02:06:00.000-07:00

Miami Open: Novak Djokovic Against Canas, Nadal Again

2008-03-26T01:47:00.000-07:00

Novak Djokovic is #3 seed in Miami, just like last week in Indian Wells, as well he will possibly match up with Guillermo Canas and Rafael Nadal the same as in Indian Wells.

Novak will be free in Round 1, in Round 2 he awaits the winner of Augustin Callieri vs. Qualifier. In Round 3, Novak could meet Igor Andreev (winner of comeback of the year in the 2007 ATP Awards held yesteday in Miami), then most likely in Round 4 await him Guillermo Canas or Ferdando Gonzales.

In possible Quarterfinal match, Novak can play against Richard Gasquet. Then in the Semifinals, he could play against Rafael Nadal (in Rafael's part of the draw three are players such as James Blake, David Nalbandian, Carlos Moya, Ivan Ljubicic, Radek Stepanek...).

Novak left Indian Wells yesterday, Tuesday March 25th, two days after winning the tournament, just couple of hours after he won the title, Novak flew to Los Angeles in a private jet to watch LA Lakers NBA match where he met NBA's leading star Kobe Bryant; video clip with Novak attending the LA Lakers game you can see in blog's next post.

Novak will not be on court in a couple of days more, there is some pressure on him as a defending champion in Miami with a lot of ATP points to defend, some of that pressure Novak took off after winning Indian Wells prior to coming to the 'fifth' Grand Slam as some call Miami Open tournament.

Video: Novak Djokovic Indian Wells 2008 Final

2008-03-25T03:09:00.000-07:00

Novak Djokovic: I'm Still Not The Best Player

2008-03-25T02:51:00.000-07:00

Novak Djokovic started the year in best possible way, winning the two biggest tournaments and still rejects to admit that he is in better form than any other player at the moment.

World #3 won Grand Slam in January, passed most of February due to health problems and won 9th ATP title last week at the Master Series Tournament in Indian Wells. Novak's words:

'This is a great result, obviously things all falling into their places. I begin to believe in myself more than I did last year. When someone starts winning the trophies, he proves foremost to himself then to other that he has the quality to be on top. It's just a thing of mental capabilities and mental toughness. I worked on it for teh past 2 year and I think I achieved it with the experience.

'I know it needs a lot of hard work to survive on top and for such great achievements, and that's what I'm doing. I realize people started talking about me and looking at me as the best player in the world. Looking at the results I think I deserve that, but I don't want to think in that direction, because it would produce additional pressure. There's already much pressure and expectation on my backs'.

'Still, I'm getting closer to World #2 position, and people already talk about 3, not 2 tennis players on the top. That's encouraging and great for me. But I still don't think about myself as the best player in the world'.

Novak will now participate in Miami Open, another Masters Series tournament, which he happened to win last year. Novak says:

'I'm happy there are so many tournaments on this kind of surface (hard) which fits me the most. Coming from Indian Wells as a winner will help me play easier'. Novak will be free in Round 1 and we won't see him on court for a couple of days more.

Indian Wells: Novak Djokovic Wins The Title

2008-03-24T03:55:00.001-07:00

Novak Djokovic has won the Indian Wells title winning over Mardy Fish in the Final in 3 sets, 6:2 7:5 6:3. With Ana Ivanovic (Novak's compatriot) winning Indian Wells title in women's competition, out of fun some have referred to Indian Wells as Serbian Wells.

Novak won 9th ATP title and proved his the most dominant player this season. After winning the first Grand Slam of the season, Novak dominated in the season's first Masters Series tournament. In front of 18.000 spectators, Novak won first set with 6:2.

In 2nd Novak won 2 break games and led 4:2 and it seemed it will be a fast finish of the match with Novak on serve. Though, Mardy made the match more interesting equalling to 5:5 in games, Mardy won a break and after a powerful service game won the set 5:7 to become the only player this year in Indian Wells who won a set against Novak.

3rd set started with 40:0 for Mardy on Novak's serve, then Novak made 3 aces for 40:40, 1 service winner, and a point for 1:0 lead in games. In the following games Mardy (Fish) was caught up in Novak's net and didn't manage to get out. Soon it was 3:0 for Novak, 4:1, 5:2, 6:3.

Novak talked about the opening game of 3rd set: 'That was a crucial moment and it was the turning point in the whole match, if I didn't come up with the three aces, it could go either way'.

Novak's thought about his season up to now: 'It's been a dream start, of course. Before I started playing this season, I said that my two goals is to be consistent with the results, I reach the Masters and hopefully win one Grand Slam. I did all that in very, very small amount of time'.

Novak: 'But again, I don't want to stop here, even though I've been playing fantastic, and I'm lucky enough to have a lot of important tournaments on this surface, which suits me the best, and I just try. I'll try to keep going in Miami, and I'm defending champion there. But coming up from Indian Wells as tournament winner, it's much easier to play'.

Mardy: 'It would be really nice to take this momentum and take this confidence into next week, because next week is just as big of a week for me. I didn't play last year. I think I put myself in a nice position now around 40 in the world with not a match to defend until August 19th, which I checked'.

Novak won additional 150 ATP points as he played in the Final last year (that earned him 350 ATP points) and is now a step closer to the leading duo, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Title brought Novak $550.000 in prize money, while Mardy won $277.000 in prize money also emense 350 ATP points which rocketed him from previous World #98 position to #40 position in this morning's, Monday March 23rd, ATP rankings.

Indian Wells: Novak Djokovic Beats Rafael Nadal To Rach The Final

2008-03-23T02:40:00.000-07:00

Novak Djokovic overcame last year's Indian Wells title winner Rafael Nadal in straigth sets, 6:3 6:2. It was yet another Novak's powerful perfomance, yet another straigth sets sets win.. could he be any better? :)

On a sunny Californian day, Novak fully controled the match, he's services were unbeatable and he constantly put pressure on Rafael's service points, it all eventually led to almost easy win in 87 minutes of play in front of 15.000 spectators in the world's second largest tennis stadium.

Key moment in first set happened at 4:3 when Novak made a break for a 5:3, and won the set by keeping his serve. In pause between two sets, Rafael asked for medical help suffering problems with leg thumb.

Beginning of second set, Rafael seemed to have the power to bounce back and took 2:1 lead and was close to make a break, though he did not and this seemed to be the crucial moment of the match, he did not win any more games to end the set 6:2 in Novak's favor.

This is what Novak had to say about the match: 'I had some really important wins last year, which proved and made me believe that I can be one of the best players in the world and I have enough quality for that'.

Rafael: 'I had very tough matches in the rounds before, very tight matches. You have to be 100%. He played less hours than me on court, easier matches, and he play better than me, so [I could] not do a thing'.

After the match, Novak and Rafael are 3:6 in head-to-head duels. Novak is heading full forward towards World #2 position. Since he played in last year's Indian Wells Final as well and won Miami tournament that starts week after Indian Wells, he will not gain too many new ATP points to overtake Rafael from #2 or Roger Federer from #1 position until the end of this month but everyone agrees it can easily happen in a April or May before Roland Gaross starts.

Reaching the Indian Wells Final, Novak has earned $277.500 in prize money and defended 350 ATP points. If he wins the tournament he will earn additional 150 points and close the gap with Rafael in ATP rankings who lost 275 points failing to qualify in the Final of the tournament he won last year.

Novak's convincing win against Rafael shows how much he has improved from last season when he achieved biggest successes of his career up to then to reach Indian Wells Final and enter ATP Top 10 for the first time in his career. So Novak has won the first Grand Slam of this season, now he plays in the final of first Master Series Tournament of the season after all 2:0 wins.

Novak will play against Mardy Fish who managed to beat no other than Roger Federer in two sets, 6:3 6:2, in only 1 hour and 3 minutes of play. Mardy won 90% of points afte good first serve and 70% on second serve having 8 aces.

Mardy is World #98 and the biggest surprise of the tournament, he will now fight for emense 500 ATP points for 10s of places improvement in the new ATP rankings.

Novak and Mardy played only once in a match that Novak won at the US Open two years ago. Here are Novak's thoughts on the upcoming match against Mardy: 'He's a really difficult opponent to play against. He’s obviously playing on top of his shape in this tournament, has nothing to lose'. Match will start around 2pm local time.

Message to Novak: win Master Series tournament, it's that easy for you :)

Indian Wells: Novak Djokovic Wins Again In Straigth Sets

2008-03-21T02:20:00.000-07:00

Novak Djokovic is in the Indian Wells Semifinals after a win over Stanislas Wawrinka in two sets, 7:6 6:2, after more than 2 hours of play. Novak is now a step away from the Final he played in last year.

At this point of the Masters Series tournament, one must look back on all what Novak has achieved in the last year/year and a half, success after success, breaking records, moving fast forward in ATP rankings, first Tier I title, Grand Slam title..

Now Novak is proving reputation of a Top 3 player, he cruised into the Indian Wells Semifinals in a way that look almost sub-real with all straigth sets wins playing better and better.

As a matter of fact, Novak has progressed so much and established himself so high in the world of tennis that now reporters refer to Novak's hard match even when he wins in straigth sets. Novak is becoming recognizes by the media that he matured for World #1 position.

Only ~18 months ago Novak threatened to Roger Federer he will throw him off his throne and Roger responded that there are many players who want that and Novak should first make it into the Top 20.

Well Novak is now there, plus he's the winner of Grand Slam title after defeating Roger in the Semifinals, now he is a slight favorite to win the Indian Wells Semifinal match against World #2 Rafael Nadal.

Novak's first set againt Stanislas was as exciting as Novak allowed any player in Indian Wells to make it. Stanislas had a break game lead at 6:5 when Novak made a break and 'the king of tie-breaks' once again showed his specialty to win the set 7:6.

First game of second set saw Stanislas' good resistence and had lasted 17 minutes with Novak using 5th break point. After losing service game and down 0:1, Stanislas seemed too tired to equal Novak's play.

Novak's impression of the match: 'It's normal to have some difficult stages in the tournament and sets and matches. This was the one. This was really a test for me. I'm happy to win such a difficult match. We played over two hours only two sets, the time (shows) that we had such long rallies. But in the end I won, and that's what matters'.

Stanislas' impressions: 'When you play the important points, he knows exactly how to play and he does it well. I take a lot of positive things from the match. I was close to winning the first set, and then I was playing very well. So I'm happy with my game and with this tournament'. This was Stanislas' first career ATP Master Series Quarterfinal.

Novak's Semifinal match against Rafael will be on schedule tomorrow, March 22nd, not before 1pm local time. Today's Quarterfinal matches include Roger vs. Tommy (Hass) and David Nalbandian vs. Mardy Fish.

Indian Wells: Novak Djokovic Can't Slow Down

2008-03-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

Novak Djokovic made yet another brilliant performance in Indian Wells, it was the 'same old' in Round 4, straight sets win in a short match, this time it was againt Guillermo Canas 6:2 6:3 in 80 minutes of play.

Djokovic was controling the match from its very tart. Guillermo, World #16, was never in lead and this is what Novak had to say after the match: 'Only top players progress in play a match after match, I think I got that characteristic too'.

Novak added: 'We all know how dangerous opponent can Guillermo be, thus I'm even more satisfied after a convincing win. Novak will now play against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka who dispatched Huing Taik Lee from Korea in 3 sets, 6:1 5:7 6:4.

Stanislas is 22 year old (23rd birthday next week), 182cm tall, 79 in weight, current World #35, #33 in Race, with a career high in Singles at #28 on January 7th 2008 and career high in Doubles at #90 in November 2006.

This year's highlights include Doha Final where he lost to Andy Murray in 3 sets, reached Australian Open R64 when defeated by Marc Gisquet who was World #73 at that time, prior to Indian Wells played in Dubai where he lost in R32 against Jan Hernych (World #188) in 2 sets 4:6 4:6.

In ongoing Indian Wells, Stanislas won against J. Levine 2:1, T. Berdych 2:1, M. Baghdatis 2:1 and H.T. Lee 2:1. So Stanislas came to Indian Wells after a not so good performance in Dubai and won all matches here with 2:1, not a convincing form still he managed to reach Quarterfinals.

Novak is on the rise and is announced as even a stronger favorite to win this match than yesterday's against Guillermo. Novak - Stanislas match is today's 1st Quarterfinal on schedule, starting 1pm local time.

Novak and Stanislas played 4 matches against each other with 2-2 in wins. Novak won in the Davis Cup match in Geneve 2006 and in ATP Tournament in Vienna 2007 with convincing 2:0. Stanislas managed to beat Novak in Vienna 2006 and in Umag (Slovenia) Final 2006.

The only thing that looks exciting about this match is whether Novak will lose a set or progress to the Semi-finals after all straigth sets wins. Yup, there are only 2 players who can match Novak's form in Indian Wells, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.