2011 BNP Paribas Open: ATP Seeds Part III
World Number 3 Novak Djokovic
Serbian tennis pro Novak “Djoker” Djokovic is the third seed at the 2011, and is currently the third-highest ranked player in the world. Coached by Maria Vajda, the player has been making waves in the world of tennis by defeating former top player Roger
Federer. He also performed very well at the Australian Open earlier this year, ousting all competition to reach the final and win the Grand Slam title.
The right-handed tennis pro joined the Association of Tennis Professionals in 2003, and has been part of the Big Five for several years now. He has participated in ATP World Tour Masters 100 Indian Wells consistently since 2007 without missing the event
in any year.
Djokovic’s second showing at the tournament was in 2007, when he confronted players such as Julien Benneteau, David Ferrer and Andy Murray to reach the final of the tournament. Ranked World Number 13 at the time, he could not compete against then-World Number
2 Rafael Nadal and lost the title match in straight sets.
Next year, he participated in the tournament once again to take on players such as Stanislas “the Manislas” Wawrinka and Guillermo Canas before reaching the semi-finals. He managed to oust second seed Rafael Nadal in straight sets this time, turning the
tables on the Spanish player and taking revenge for last year’s defeat. Djokovic took on then-World Number 98 Mardy Fish in the title match and defeated the player in three sets to win his first and only Indian Wells title.
In 2009, Djokovic was ranked World Number 2. He received a bye in the first round of the tournament, and faced players like Tommy Haas and Wawrinka once again to make it to the quarterfinals. However, he suffered a comparatively early defeat at the hands
of American tennis pro Andy Roddick, who was World Number 7 at the time.
Novak, or Nole, returned to the tournament last year for the fifth time. He scored a victory over then-World Number 106 Mardy Fish yet again in the second round, but the match went into three sets and Djokovic appeared to struggle through it. He also defeated
Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets, but gave up the chance to regain the title by losing to Croat Ivan Ljubicic in the round of the last 16.
This year, however, Novak Djokovic is possibly the most likely candidate for victory at the tournament. He has only played in two events so far this year, but he scored title wins at both Australia and Dubai. He also managed to defeat Roger Federer twice
in straight sets, and is expected to decimate his opponents to regain the ATP World Tour Masters Indian Wells title in 2011.
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