Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero: Opening round preview – Wimbledon Championships 2012
Third Grand Slam of the year will take off in grand fashion, with the reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, playing his opening round matchup against the former world number one, Juan Carlos Ferrero, on Monday afternoon.
The contest will be played on the coveted Centre Court of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England.
No doubt the top seeded Serbian, Djokovic, is currently the most lethal opponent on any sort of courts but it will be an all-different play ground for the 25-year-old at Wimbledon. He hasn’t played single match on grass courts
this season and his very first contest against a former top ranked players might produce an absolute stunner for the tennis fans. Djokovic is coming out from a decent clay court season and shifting to faster grass courts can cause some trouble to the world
number one.
Ferrero has been on top of the tennis world on his prime but that was years ago. The 32-year-old Spaniard is struggling with her debilitating physical fitness and form these days and missed out most of the tournaments this season
due to persistent injuries. To some critics, Ferrero does not pose any threat to the in-form belligerent world number one and they anticipate Djokovic to blast past him comprehensively. Well, once a world number one player on tennis courts can always pull
out a shocker at any time. Ferrero has been very successful on grass courts and his abilities are not to be underestimated.
On the other hand, Djokovic is very confident for defending his title at Wimbledon and aims to begin his grass court season with all guns blazing. The last match he played was the final of the Roland Garros French Open, which he
lost to the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, in four sets. Playing his first match on the faster grass courts will cause the Serbian some problems but it is the same disadvantage which might cause Ferrero to topple. The Spaniard has also played his most recent
match at the Roland Garros, suffering a second round exit at the hands of the Croatian number one, Marin Cilic. So it becomes even for both players, who are about to begin the grass court season on the most elite platform in London.
“He definitely has a lot of experience playing on the big stage, so I'm not underestimating him, that's for sure.” Djokovic said about Ferrero. “It's going to be a good first round match… Everybody who follows tennis, especially
us, the tennis players, we really respect him a lot. After everything he has been through, he is still trying to go back to the top. He is always dangerous. If you look at him now, I think he's playing equally well as he was playing four, five years ago. Now
it's just a matter of his fitness obviously and his confidence on the court.”
Upsets don’t happen so often in the game of tennis, especially when the top players are in competition with an inferior ranked opponent. Djokovic is certainly the hot favourite for winning the opener on Monday but fans must keep
their eyes opened for a huge upset at the hands of the former top ranked Spaniard.
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