Novak Djokovic is eyeing to defend his crown at the Sony Ericsson Open – Tennis Special
World number one Novak Djokovic is looking forward to defend his title at the Sony Ericsson Open 2012, an ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Masters 1000 event taking place at Key Biscayne in Miami, United States.
Djokovic, who is seeded number one in this tournament, is coming off winning the first Grand Slam, Australian Open. He is bidding to become the first man since Roger Federer to win back-to-back titles here. The Serb will also join
the like of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi to become the only three-time champions at this hard court event if he successfully achieves his goal. Djokovic won Miami Masters in 2007 after defeating Argentina’s Guillermo Canas in the final.
"It's still a week to my first match, so I'm going to take some time, regroup," the high flying Serb was quoted after the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. "I feel physically well. I think I'm playing equally well. I'm confident
ahead of the Miami tournament."
The 24-year-old stunned the former world number one, Rafael Nadal, to conquer this tournament last year. He came off winning the Australian Open 2012 and slaughtered his opponents without losing a set en route to the final showdown.
Djokovic devastated Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin and the local wild card entrant, James Blake, with a bagel to reach the fourth round. He then eased past Viktor Troicki, South African number one Kevin Anderson and Mardy Fish to secure a title-round spot last
circuit.
Djokovic started this year campaign in great form and stunned the 16-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer, in an exhibition event held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
He then cruised into the Melbourne Grand Slam and stomped over David Ferrer and Andy Murray before outgunning the Spanish number one in the final round.
Last year, the Serb went on a 42 match unbeaten run from the start of the season. However, he fell to the British number one, Murray, in the final four at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February. Adding further to
his misery, Djokovic fell to the 11th seed, John Isner, last week, eventually failing to defend his title at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
"I had in the third set a couple of times 30-all and some chances really where I was in the rally, but he came up with some incredible groundstrokes winners, and that's it," said the Serb after his loss. "I have to shake his hand
and congratulate him for the win."
The five-time Grand Slam champion, Djokovic, is scheduled to play his first match at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park on Saturday. He received a bye into the second round after being a seeded player of the tournament. The Serb
will confront the winner of the match between the Argentinean star, Leonardo Mayer, and Cyprus Marcos Baghdatis. With his original game, the Serb can easily tumble over his rivals. However, Djokovic needs to step-up his game against the top 15 players and
should focus on his groundstrokes.
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