Djokovic opens play at Rogers Cup

After a forgettable Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic this week returns to the site of one of his more impressive performances.

The third-seeded Serbian opens play at the $2.6 million Rogers Cup on Tuesday with a second-round match against Canadian wild card Frank Dancevic.

One of the top eight seeds to earn a first-round bye, Djokovic will be seeing his first action since a surprising second-round loss to Marat Safin at the All England Club.

The 21-year-old, who admitted he was mentally worn out at Wimbledon, should be confident heading into this hardcourt event as he won here last season with consecutive victories over the top three players in the world.

Djokovic topped then-No. 3 Andy Roddick in the quarters, second-ranked Rafael Nadal in the semis and world No. 1 Roger Federer in the championship match to become the first player to defeat the world’s top three in the same event since Boris Becker in October 1994 at Stockholm.
n addition to winning his first major title at the Australian Open earlier this year, Djokovic also has claimed trophies at Indian Wells and Rome this season. He would likely have a few more titles to his credit if not for a new-found nemesis.

Prior to Wimbledon, his last three tournaments ended with losses to Nadal, who was fighting to retain his No. 2 ranking in two of those instances. It possible Djokovic and Nadal - the 2005 champ - will cross paths again if each player navigates through to the semifinals.

Federer, the 2004 and 2006 champion, is once again the top seed here and competing in the side of the draw opposite Nadal and Djokovic.

Before Djokovic can worry about dealing with the world’s best players, he’ll need to take care of business against Dancevic, who will no doubt have the backing of the local fans as the top-ranked Canadian in the draw.

Ranked 82nd in the world, Dancevic has not enjoyed much success in this event previously as he is just 5-6 - including Monday’s win over Mario Ancic - in seven appearances

Roddick is the sixth seed here and opens play here Tuesday with a second-round encounter against Nicolas Mahut, a three-set winner over Janko Tipsarevic on Monday.

Like Djokovic, Roddick also made an unexpected second-round exit at Wimbledon and the shoulder injury which kept him from competing at the French Open remains an area of concern.

Apparently still troubled by the problem, which started in May at Rome, the American No. 1 withdrew from a World Team Tennis match in St. Louis earlier this month. Roddick, 25, won this event in 2003 and also was a finalist in 2002 and 2004.

The first-round will be completed with 13 matches on Tuesday, including a meeting between American qualifier Donald Young and unseeded Frenchman Gilles Simon, who is fresh off Sunday’s win at Indianapolis. The winner there will be rewarded with a second-round match against Federer.

Seeded players with opening-round matches Tuesday are No. 13 Fernando Verdasco of Spain and 16th seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

First prize is $420,000.
 
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Rogers Mastrers Tennis: Roddick Interview
 
 

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