Stan guns for Djoker
Undisputed Serbian champion aims to win fifth Dubai title
dubai — As dusk was descending, Novak Djokovic took to the court and there was absolutely nobody in the stands to admire his perfectly constructed points!
There was Boris Becker by his side, though.
Wearing an orange T-shirt and a white cap, the legendary German was retrieving balls and exchanging few quick words with the undisputed world number one.
It’s unlikely that Djokovic had any dispute on Sunday evening about playing styles with his coach whose serve-and-volley game fetched him six Grand Slam titles as well as the world number one ranking.
As always, Djokovic preferred to play from the back of the court as he tried to engage his countryman Viktor Troicki into long rallies in that practice match.
Well, Djokovic might have to face Troicki, his Davis Cup teammate, in the semifinals at the Dubai Tennis Championships as the real game starts on the morrow.
After Sara Errani won Dubai hearts with her beautiful ability to keep fighting till the end, Djokovic will be aiming to add some more history to his already astonishing tennis story.
A win here will give the 11-time Grand Slam champion his fifth Dubai Tennis Championships title.
While the tenacious Errani had to look ugly at times in order to lift that beautiful trophy, Djokovic could probably be dictating everything from the word go.
In his own words, he is at the ‘peak’ of his career.
Naturally, the Serb is expected to lift the Dubai trophy with ease.
But the question that arises is whether the rest of the players in Dubai will be able to challenge a man who had demolished Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal last month in Melbourne and Doha.
Of course the presence of the second seed Stanislas Wawrinka will raise hopes of those who want to see a fight.
And Wawrinka, who is in the bottom half of the draw, is the man who has done some serious damage to Djokovic in Grand Slams, with his epic five-set win at the Australian Open in 2014 as well as that stunning four-set victory at the Roland Garros final where Djokovic was desperately trying to win his first title.
Number three seed Tomas Berdych is another player that has the experience of playing Djokovic in big matches. But the 30-year-old big-hitter from the Czech Republic is not in great form and he was taken apart in the French tournament few days back by the mercurial Aussie Nick Kyrgios.
The Australian youngster would also bring his band of explosive tennis to Dubai.
Kyrgyos’ first round opponent in Dubai will be the impressive Slovakian Martin Klizan who has just won the title in Rotterdam.
On Monday, Djokovic opens his own campaign against Tommy Robredo. The veteran Spaniard won his last contest against Djokovic at the Cincinnati Maters on hard court in 2014, but he is not in great form in recent times and he will be playing against a player who has taken the game to a different level in recent months – a level that Nadal thinks tennis has never seen before.