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ATP World Tour No. 3 Novak Djokovic ended lucky loser Lukasz Kubot’s dream run at the inaugural Serbia Open as he won his hometown title in Belgrade with a 6-3, 7-6(0) victory over the Pole on Sunday in the final of the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament.
Victory for Djokovic boosts the Serbian’s chance of qualifying for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, where he is defending champion, as he earns 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points and €75,500. Kubot receives 150 points and €39,700 and will rise to around No. 143 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings.
The 21-year-old Djokovic was contesting his fourth consecutive ATP World Tour final, his fifth overall in 2009, and captured his second title of the season to join the trophy he collected on hard court in Dubai (d. Ferrer) in late February. The right-hander had reached three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals in his past three tournaments, finishing runner-up to World No. 4 Andy Murray on hard court in Miami and to No. 1 Rafael Nadal on the clay courts at Monte-Carlo and Rome.
"I won the first event that has ever been organised in our country, we must be proud of our organisation and we must be proud of the big picture that has been sent to the world," said Djokovic. "We are a small country, but this country has a lot of potential, a lot of good things and I think after this tournament the world will think only nice things about us.
"If we are looking at the category of the event (ATP World Tour 250 tournament) it’s not the biggest success I ever had, but it certainly is the most important win for me."
Djokovic made a confident start to his 22nd tour-level final, breaking twice in the second and sixth games to open up a 5-1 lead against first-time ATP World Tour finalist Kubot. The Pole, who was looking to become the first first-time winner on the ATP World Tour this year, rallied briefly and pegged Djokovic back at 5-3, but he could not recover the second break and Djokovic closed out the one-set lead 6-3.
World No. 179 Kubot, who would have been the lowest-ranked title winner on the ATP World Tour in 2009 had he succeeded, caused Djokovic and the Serbian tennis fans some concern in the second set as he twice led by a break of serve at 3-0 and 5-2. Both times Djokovic hit back though and once he forced a tie-break, the Pole had run out of answers and succumbed to the 2008 Australian Open champion 7-0 after one hour and 49 minutes.
"I had nothing to lose, but it was tough to play against Novak, especially because he was playing different than the other opponents before," said Kubot. "He was trying to play with me, to move me on the court and he didn’t go for big shots, winners. As long as he was playing the rallies against me, he was winning... He was more experienced in the end, in the tie-breaker in the second set, and then he won it.
"For me, it was an experience. It was very nice to play in Serbia because the crowd was supporting very fair, and it was very nice to play in a full house today."
Djokovic improved to a 13-9 lifetime mark in ATP World Tour finals; he won his first title as a 19 year old on clay in Amersfoort in July 2006 (d. Massu) and has won four titles in total on the crushed brick.
"Of course I felt pressure (throughout the week)," said Djokovic. "I was aware of the fact that most expectations are behind me and having the role of the main favourite to win the event is never easy. Under these circumstances I had to play against two Serbians in the first two matches. So there were a lot of things involved but I’m relieved in a way that I could mentally overcome these challenges and go all the way through."
The Monte-Carlo resident improved to a 34-10 match record on the season, the second best record (behind Rafael Nadal 38-3) on the ATP World Tour this year. In addition to reaching five ATP World Tour finals in the first five months of the season, Djokovic boasted semi-final showings at Sydney (l. to Nieminen) and Marseille (l. to Tsonga) and reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open (ret. vs. Roddick) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Roddick).
The 26-year-old Kubot was the first Polish player to reach an ATP World Tour singles final since Wojtek Fibak in Basel on 16 October, 1983 (ret. vs. Gerulaitis) and was bidding to become the first Pole to win an ATP World Tour singles title since Fibak on 5 December, 1982 at WCT/Chicago - where he defeated American Bill Scanlon.
Having lost to Dominik Hrbaty in the final round of qualifying, the right-hander gained entry into an ATP World Tour main draw for just the second time this season when Steve Darcis withdrew with a shoulder injury and he raced through to the final without the loss of a set – including upsetting No. 2 seed Ivo Karlovic in the semi-finals.
The No. 1 Pole was looking to become the first lucky loser to win an ATP World Tour title since Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky triumphed in Zagreb last March.
World No. 3 Novak Djokovic made a strong finish to his second-round opening match at the inaugural Serbia Open 2009, an ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament, defeating fellow Belgrade-native Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 on Wednesday.
Djokovic failed to convert on his five break point opportunities in the second set and was broken once as Tipsarevic sent the match to a decisive set. Serbia’s top player then stepped up his game, dropping just four points on serve in the third set and capitalising on three of his six break points to close out the win in two hours.
The 21-year-old Djokovic, who improves to a 31-10 season record, has reached the finals in his past three tournament appearances. He finished runner-up to Andy Murray at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Miami, and to Rafael Nadal at the clay-court events at Monte-Carlo and Rome. In February, he won his 12th ATP World Tour title by defeating David Ferrer in the Dubai final
Djokovic next goes to face another Belgrade-native, fifth seed Viktor Troicki, who advanced to his third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Marcel Granollers. Troicki has won his one previous meeting against Djokovic, prevailing in a 7-5 third set two years ago at the clay-court tournament in Umag.
The 23-year-old Troicki enjoyed his best results at the start of the season, when he reached the quarter-finals in Auckland (l. to del Potro) and the semi-finals in Zagreb (l. to Cilic) before winning an ATP Challenger Tour event in his hometown (d. Hrbaty). The right-hander, who won his first clay-court match last week in Rome, improved to a 14-11 match record on the season.
Kristof Vliegen prevailed in an all-Belgian meeting to oust eighth seed Christophe Rochus 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 and reach his second quarter-final of the season. The 26-year-old Vliegen, formerly ranked No. 30 but currently No. 105 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, has a 5-7 match record on the season. Coming into the Serbia Open, the Maaseik native had not won an ATP World Tour main-draw match since reaching the quarter-finals in Johannesburg (l. to Tsonga).
Vliegen is bidding to reach his first semi-final since Halle (l. to Berdych) in June 2006 and will face Polish lucky loser Lukasz Kubot, who advanced when third-seeded Russian Igor Andreev retired with a rib injury trailing 2-3 in the first set of their second-round match. The No. 179-ranked Kubot gained entry into the draw when Steve Darcis withdrew with a shoulder injury and made the most of his opportunity by defeating Serbian wild card Arsenije Zlatanovic in straight sets to win just his second match of the season.
Remaining first-round action was completed on Wednesday. Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla held his nerve to oust Cypriot wild card Marcos Baghdatis 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the first match of the day after play had been suspended at one-set all due to darkness on Tuesday evening. Argentine Brian Dabul set up a second-round meeting with No. 2 seed Ivo Karlovic after crushing Nicolas Massu 6-2, 6-1, while his compatriot Leonardo Mayer will challenge fourth seed Andreas Seppi after defeating Wayne Odesnik 6-3, 6-2.
Belgrade will stage Serbia's first ATP World Tour event this week at the SRPC Milan Gale Muskatirovic. The Serbia Open 2009, an ATP World Tour 250 event, will be played on outdoor clay.
World No. 3 Novak Djokovic headlines the inaugural main draw as the top seed in his hometown. The 21 year old could play compatriot Janko Tipsarevic in the second round, should Tipsarevic defeat Argentine Sergio Roitman. Fifth seed Viktor Troicki, also a Belgrade native, could be Djokovic’s challenger in the quarter-finals.
Reigning ATP World Tour Champion Rafael Nadal won a record fourth Internazionali BNL d’Italia title with a hard-fought 7-6(2), 6-2 victory over defending champion Novak Djokovic on Sunday at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tennis tournament in Rome.
Nadal is rewarded with 1000 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points and €434,000, while defeat for World No. 3 Djokovic means that he will be surpassed in the Rankings by No. 4 Andy Murray on 11 May when the 2008 Rome points drop off.
The 22-year-old Nadal has now amassed a staggering 15 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 shields - second only (since 1990) to the now-retired Andre Agassi, who holds the record with 17 titles won during his illustrious 20-year career.
"[It is] one of the most important [titles] of my career," said Nadal. "[To] win in Rome is a big title. I have right now 15 Masters 1000 [wins] in my career, so that's a lot, and I'm very happy for that.
"[To] win here in Rome is always unbelievable. It's a very good tournament, and I am very happy for the victory. I am going to try my best in the next tournaments. Important thing for me right now I have 15 (Masters 1000 titles). It is a lot. Sure, I would love to have more than 17."
Victory marked Nadal’s 30th consecutive clay-court match win, including 16 wins in a row this season; his last loss on the surface came against Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Rome second round last year. During the span, he has won 71 of 75 sets and clinched four titles. Since 2005, Nadal has compiled an outstanding 147-4 match record on clay.
Watch match highlights,interviews and features from RomeThe Spaniard is currently seventh on the list of clay-court title leaders with 25 tour-level titles on the crushed brick. He is already over halfway to reaching Guillermo Vilas’ Open Era record of 45 triumphs.
In their second ATP World Tour final meeting in three weeks, Nadal was fast out of the blocks – breaking in the first game to stamp his authority early in the pair’s 17th meeting. However, two rare forehand errors from the Mallorcan when he served for the set at 5-4 brought Djokovic back into the set as he levelled at 5-5.
Djokovic failed to capitalise on his momentum and was immediately broken again by Nadal to trail 5-6. But the defending champion refused to relinquish the set without a continued fight and his persistence was rewarded as Nadal miss-hit a forehand to lose serve for the second time.
Six-time Grand Slam champion Nadal raised his level in the tie-break though and as he cut out his errors, Djokovic was unable to maintain his high-level of play and was made to pay the price as a failed drop shot trickled down his own side of the net to grant Nadal a hard-fought one-set lead.
The 21-year-old Djokovic produced more of the top form that saw him defeat Roger Federer in the semi-finals to stay on an even keel with Nadal early in the second set. But the Spaniard’s continued brilliance on the clay proved too hot for Djokovic to handle ultimately and he broke through in the sixth game as Djokovic double faulted under the pressure.
After two hours and three minutes of high-quality action, Nadal closed out his 13th victory over Djokovic with a second break of serve as he flicked a forehand pass up the line past the resigned Djokovic.
"Obviously it's his patience in the certain points (that is key)," Djokovic said. "When I needed to maybe stay a little bit more patient and just play the right shots I made some unforced errors. It happens a couple of times already on this surface that I'm close, and in the deciding moments he just overcomes the pressure better than me. But that's why he's the best in the world in this moment. Overall, I'm really happy with the week."
Nadal improved to a 22-1 event match record by clinching a record fourth Rome title. He previously won in 2005 and 2006 with epic five-set victories over Guillermo Coria and Roger Federer respectively, before winning his third successive title in the Italian capital with a straight-sets win over Fernando Gonzalez in 2007. Jaroslav Drobny (1950-52), Martin Mulligan (1963, ’65, ’67) and Thomas Muster (1990, ’95-96) are the others who have won three titles in Rome.
Nadal improved to an ATP World Tour-best 38-3 match record on the season after capturing his fifth tour-level title from six finals. He clinched his first hard-court Grand Slam title at the Australian Open with back-to-back five-set victories over Fernando Verdasco and Roger Federer before continuing his hard-court success at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (d. Murray).
The left-hander then took his strong form into the European clay-court season, where he won the ATP World Tour Masters Monte-Carlo title (d. Djokovic) and Barcelona crown (d. Ferrer) for the fifth successive year.
"[Regardless] the result in Madrid and Roland Garros, the clay season is unbelievable. I'm very happy for everything. Sure it's a big surprise for me to win three titles in a row in three weeks. But I never did in the past, so it's a good thing for me to know I can do."
Nadal won his 36th tour-level title in his 45th final. He has 25-1 lifetime record in clay-court finals, with his lone loss coming to Roger Federer in the 2007 Hamburg final.
Djokovic was contesting his third consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final after finishing runner-up to Andy Murray in the Miami final and Nadal in Monte-Carlo. The Belgrade native, who will headline the inaugural event in his hometown next week, dropped to a 12-9 mark in tour-level finals. His most recent title, and his only one of the season, came in Dubai (l. to Ferrer) in February.
"I've been playing really well in the last three Masters 1000 events, and I'm really happy with the shape I'm in in this moment," said Djokovic. "Confidence is really important in this sport, in any sport. Right now I think I have good confidence. Hopefully I can continue with the successful tournament."
The right-hander captured the Rome title, his last at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level, last year with victory over Stanislas Wawrinka in the title match
World No. 3 Novak Djokovic will have the opportunity to defend his Internazionali BNL d’Italia title after recovering from a set and a break down to oust two-time former finalist Roger Federer 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournament in Rome.
In a repeat of the recent Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final, Djokovic will take on three-time former champion Rafael Nadal after the top-ranked Spaniard rolled past Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-3 later on Saturday.
It will be the first final between two Rome champions since 1978, when Bjorn Borg beat Italian Adriano Panatta in five sets.
"He's going to be the absolute favourite to win it again, but I have my chances, especially after the great performance in Monte-Carlo," said Djokovic. "I have no reason not to believe that I can win. I won a set against him in Monte-Carlo. I played really good start of the third set, and learned that I have to really play every point against him. So that's what I'm going to try to do tomorrow. Physically to prepare, to be ready to play long rallies, because that is what is happening when you play against him, and just wait for the chances."
Read about the Nadal-Djokovic Rivalry
Djokovic, who defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in the 2008 final, will contest his third consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final of the year after finishing runner-up to Andy Murray in Miami and Rafael Nadal in Monte-Carlo two weeks ago. The Serbian has four ATP World Tour Masters 1000 shields to his name, triumphing at Miami (d. Canas) and Montreal (d. Federer) in 2007 and at Indian Wells (d. Fish) and Rome last year.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic continued his sizzling run at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level this year after dismissing World No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome Friday. The Serb will next meet four-time ATP World Tour Champion Roger Federer, whom he defeated in the Miami semi-finals early last month.
Djokovic is now one win away from his third consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final. Two weeks ago he pushed ATP World Tour champion Rafael Nadal to three sets in the Monte-Carlo final and last month he fell to Andy Murray in the Miami final.
Djokovic, who is locked in a three-way battle with Roger Federer and Andy Murray for the No. 2 spot in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings (Read Story), has not dropped a set in three career meetings with del Potro.
The 21-year-old defending champion has not dropped a set this week. He needed only 61 minutes to defeat No. 13 seed Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday. He opened the tournament Tuesday with a 7-6(5), 6-0 victory over Spaniard Albert Montanes.
Djokovic said: “Today I tried to change the pace a lot, because I know that del Potro likes more or less the same pace, and he's moving really well for his height. I knew that I had to move him, left/right, try to be patient, and go for the little longer rallies and a little more spin into the balls. That's what I did. I think I've played well. It's a good win for me. I'm ready for next challenge."
Of being the defending champion, Djokovic said: “You have some certain pressure and responsibility. It's a bit difficult to defend a title and all these points. I think I've been doing quite a good job until now.”
Federer, a Rome finalist in 2003 and 2006, advanced to the semi-finals with a 7-6(3), 6-2 win over German qualifier Mischa Zverev.
Federer withstood an early challenge from Zverev, who was willing to approach the net on a regular basis. Saving both break points he faced, Zverev was able to force the first set to a tie-break before Federer, who did not face a break point in the match, finished strongly to close out a 7-6(3), 6-2 win after hitting 36 winners.
Since winning his first ATP World Tour title in February 2001 in Milan, Federer has never failed to win a title in the first four months of the season until this year. The 14-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 champion reached the Australian Open final in January, losing a five-set battle to Rafael Nadal. He also reached the semi-finals in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami.
Federer leads Djokovic 7-3 in career meetings and has won their two outings on clay. Djokovic, who rallied from a set down to beat Federer in Miami last month, has never beaten the Swiss two consecutive times.
Federer paid credit to Zverev for his performance in the first set: “He was playing well I thought from the start. He served some good serves, and made it easy for him to hold in the beginning. Made it hard for me to get the break… It was a pity I couldn't make the forehand on set point at 5-4, I think it was. But then I played a great breaker and I played well after that, so it was a perfect match for me. I was happy with my match.”
The Swiss said he looked forward to his meeting with Djokovic. “We haven't had each other that much on clay. Seems like he's playing well again. He came through very convincing against good players, so I expect a good match. I hope I can play better than in Miami.”
Defending champion Novak Djokovic came through a tight opening set against Spaniard Albert Montanes before advancing with a 7-6(5), 6-0 victory on a rain-hit Tuesday at Internazionali BNL d’Italia, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tennis tournament in Rome.
Montanes held his own with the World No. 3 through the first set as both players capitalised on two of their break point chances, but came up short in the tie-break. Similar to his three-set win over the 33rd-ranked Montanes two weeks ago at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Monte-Carlo, Djokovic then blanked his opponent in the decisive set, limiting the Spaniard to just four points on serve.
The 21-year-old Djokovic is looking to reach his third straight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final after runner-up finishes at Miami (l. to Murray) and Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal). The Serbian won the Rome title last year with victory over Swiss No. 2 Stanislas Wawrinka in the final.
