Novak Djokovic Joined By Brother Marko In Dubai Singles Draw

Regarding the Dubai wildcard allocated to the Djokovic family:
Recipient – Marko Djokovic, rank 867, but probably not half as good as Albano Olivetti (FRA), rank 388, who beat Fish in Marseilles.
Place in draw – opposite half to Novak
Firt round opponent – a qualifier
Quid pro quo – probably some reduction in Novak’s appearance money.
Reminder to non-Serb ATP players – only go to Novak’s tournament in Serbia if the appearance money makes the trip worthwhile.

February 25th, 2012 at 1:12 pm

No. 900 Marko Djokovic shouldn’t have taken the place of hundreds of more deserving, much higher ranked players. But Novak Djokovic probably made it a condition for his participation in Dubai, in addition to his probable $1 million plus appearance fee.

Interesting to see whether Andy Murray’s performances and results in Dubai, IW and Miami will be improved by Ivan Lendl’s coaching… though he has a potentially tough Dubai draw in Davydenko, Berdych and Djokovic. Murray might turn out to be the surprise of the clay court season (he had his best results last year) as Lendl won three French Opens from five finals. I think Lendl’s five setter loss to Borg in the 1981 French Open finals was the toughest Roland Garros final won by Borg. And Lendl’s a very smart guy.

Lendl and Jim Courier — two coaches Federer should have hired instead of Paul Annacone.

Juan Martin del Potro’s in his second finals in two consecutive weeks of play — how much will he have in his tank for Dubai against Dolgopolov and then the wildcard Marko Djokovic?

February 25th, 2012 at 1:41 pm

To me the bigger news is that Andy Murray is in Novak’s half. Why?

February 25th, 2012 at 2:00 pm

melzer in the final. apparently playing with a broken toe.

February 25th, 2012 at 2:20 pm

Kimmi,

Yeah Melzer gets hardly any mention here. Meanwhile, he silently goes through the draw and beats Young, Isner, Stepanek on the way. Great run for him! Yea for the old guys!!

February 25th, 2012 at 2:57 pm

^^^ I couldnt even walk upstairs when I broke my toe. It was painful wearing shoes. Can’t possibly be a bad break, can it?

Well, if Andy is going to win this, either way, he’d likely have to beat both Djokovic and Federer. In some ways maybe it’s better he take on the tougher one (Nole) in the semi than meet him in the Final.

No time like NOW to do it. GO Murray!

And Vamos del Potro. Can he beat Tsonga again AND maybe this time beat Federer? He destroyed Berdych in Rotterdam. No matter what, he’s proving where he belongs – right up there with the top players :D

If anyone missed it, Delpo hit an around the post running forehand v Tsonga today that showed the big guy can not only use his wingspan but his feet. And Chapeau Delpo for serving under pressure like a Champ! 2 spectacular semi’s for him in 2 weeks.

**alison – yes, delighted, thanks. And I’ll shut-up him at least…until tomorrow ;)

About Marko in the draw, it’s not fair to the hard working and perhaps more deserving, but that happens all the time. The best answer, imo, is for the qualifier to knock him out.

February 25th, 2012 at 3:01 pm

left out “about”. no more (about) Delpo today. too much coffee!

February 25th, 2012 at 3:04 pm

ah, stan already down a break v. almagro. not looking good.

February 25th, 2012 at 3:30 pm

Jurgen Melzer, the man who beat both Djokovic (2010 French Open quarterfinals — the Novak version, not Marko) and Nadal (2010 Shanghai)and Federer (2011 Monte Carlo) the last times they met the Austrian.

Delpo-Llodra, rematch of first round Rotterdam (6-4, 6-7, 6-4).

February 25th, 2012 at 4:12 pm

Raonic, who people on this site insist on calling “big baby” – a name he would not be saddled with were he American, has reached his 3 final in 4 tournaments this year. Should he beat Melzer he will have won 3 of them and will be well on target to be top 16 by the French Open.

Of course if he wins it eill be because Melzer had a broken toe, which would make Isner’s excuse… What?

February 25th, 2012 at 7:14 pm

Marko is not a bad player at all. He lost a match at Serbia Open that was he won already – missed 3 match points, if I am not mistaken. I watched that mach and was amazed how similar he is to Nole. It was obvious he chocked. He is lacking experience, that’s all. He was injured for the most part of last year, thus his results. Not to forget that he has a win against Zimonjic/Nestor in doubles.

As far as the WC I don’t know why he would be less deserving than some American who has the priority over better players in Grand Slams just because the USA has a Grand Slam. There is an understanding that the four countries that organize GS have the priority when WC is concerned. Nole won Dubai three times. Surely, he is behind the WC Marko got, but so what? Happens all the time.

Mr. Walters – what is your objection to trip to Belgrade? Serbia Open was named the best ATP 250 tournament of the 2009. It is organized very professionally. It is new but already attracted some great names. Isner came two times. Surely, he wouldn’t had he not liked it, for some reason. Besides, Belgrade is beautiful, hospitable and safe, like the rest of Serbia. I don’t see why a European capital would be lacking in anything.

February 25th, 2012 at 7:23 pm

it’s one thing giving marko a wildcard at the serbia open.
but this is a 500 event. absurd.

February 25th, 2012 at 7:37 pm

looks like it is almagro vs ferrer in Buenos aires

congrats to milos for reaching another final. he already defend his points..a title will be icing on the cake.

February 25th, 2012 at 7:38 pm

Marko has 12 points. So what????? What ever happened to earning your way into these things. What a crock.

February 25th, 2012 at 7:47 pm

Hi ya’ll.

My friend the psychic did the charts for Roland Garros yesterday and Nadal’s chart is perfect. He will win his 7th French Open this year. May and June will be the best months for Nadal this year.

She told me that the month of July will be lousy for Nadal, he will not win Wimbledon.

For Wimbledon and the USO she will do a profound analysis in the upcoming weeks but right now she sees Murray as the favorite for Wimbledon. Djokovic and Federer will do well there(finals?) but Wimbledon will be the best chance for Murray to win a slam this year. July will be the best month for him astrologically speaking.

At the USO Djokovic seems to be the favorite but Del Potro will do well too(finals?).

February 25th, 2012 at 10:04 pm

Danice, nicely said. BTW have you seen youngest Djordje playing? Is he any good?

February 25th, 2012 at 11:09 pm

@Roy. This is what is known as ‘pulling ranks’!!!!

February 26th, 2012 at 3:02 am

I think money talks. And having a celeb big brother also talks. Yes the world is unfair. But there is still a God somewhere I am sure. May the most worthy win.

February 26th, 2012 at 4:29 am

Wog boy,
no, I haven’t seen Djordje play. He is at the Bolletierri Tennis Academy and is said to be the most gifted of the three brothers. We’ll see about that.

February 26th, 2012 at 4:44 am

Danice, thanks. Wish him luck.

February 26th, 2012 at 5:21 am

@Wog boy

I have seen Djordjes’ practice with Bollettieri himself, and he is very good. I also heard experts say he could be the best of the three, however, his attitude might get better of him….

Time will tell….

February 26th, 2012 at 8:20 am

Jamie – “now she sees Murray as the favorite for Wimbledon”

LOL. And the psychic’s name is Judy, who happens to be the mother of Andy’s, correct? Oh and she’s your mother as well.

LOL x2!!!

February 26th, 2012 at 9:54 am

Danica – I didn’t mention Belgrade. My point was made in reference to the Djokovic family.

Regarding wild cards in Grand Slam tournaments, there exist well understood methods of exchanging some wild cards. Between the US and France for example, the US recipient(s) of a wild card to Roland Garros is determined in a knock out competition. This saves some Americans the trouble and expense of travelling to Europe merely to fail reaching the Roland Garros main draw. Such arrangements are clear and fair.

You also wrote “Surely, he [Nole] is behind the WC Marko got, but so what? Happens all the time.” Bending the rules, cheating, murder, homicide, and other things “happen all the time”. I don’t see the logic in your declaration that because bad things happen, then it’s OK for more bad things to happen. Thats the road to chaos and an end to civilization. There have already been too many excursions down that bloody path in recent years.

February 26th, 2012 at 11:00 am

@Paul

She is not even a Brit. Neither am I.

___________________

She sees:

FO: Nadal

She already did the astrological charts for the French Open plus looking at their lunar astrology and sees Nadal winning his 7th RG this year.

___________________
She has not done the astrological charts for Wimbledon/USO yet.

Without doing their astrological charts, just looking at their lunar astrology, my friend thinks Murray is the favorite to win Wimbledon BUT Djokovic and Federer have chances of being finalists.

Djokovic is the favorite for the USO BUT Del Potro has chances of being finalist.

February 26th, 2012 at 1:03 pm

“Thats the road to chaos and an end to civilization. ” Because Marko got a wildcard to Dubai!? ;) Just kidding, but there are some interesting leaps in the discussion. From what I’ve heard, the more talented brother of Nole’s is Djordje.

Anyhow, looking forward to Dubai; it has a great field this year.

February 26th, 2012 at 2:27 pm

what! djordje talented that djokovic, hmmm! interesting indeed jane.

February 26th, 2012 at 2:43 pm

What I meant, Kimmi is that of the two brothers, Marko and Djordje, the youngest one is the most talented. Maybe i wasn’t very clear. So far anyhow, Nole is the most talented of the three boys. Djordje is only 16 though, so we’ll have to see how he does in the future. Should be interesting.

February 26th, 2012 at 3:04 pm

sorry for the typo in my earlier post jane but it looks like you got me. OK, now i understand, but i think the post from MalaMo says “.. I also heard experts say he could be the best of the three”. i understood the three brothers, that should include Novak i believe, unless there is another one that i dont know. We will see.

talent and mental strength goes hand in hand. Novak had to work hard on his mental aspect of the game to eventually succeed, so is federer. Nadal is the one who has been know to be mentally stronger from his early years. Muzza is struggling on that too.

February 26th, 2012 at 3:51 pm

Hold the fire people, nobody committed a crime , there is no murder, it is only tennis and not even the rules are broken. It is not Nole’s fault that Nadal and Federer don’t have brothers. Nole’s father didn’t waste time and didn’t watch to much TV so he raised beautifull family and three well mannered young men and one of them happened to be the best of the best of the best and that gives him some privileges, what is OK.
Peace brothers and sisters

MalaMo, thanks. It looks like you are living in the States. Did you have chance to see or read about little Olga Danilovic that won Florida two months ago. Remember her name, she is only 11 but if she inherited just little bit of her fathers shampion’s genes Olga should do well. Kimberly as Miami fan should know little bit about Predrag Danilovic, her father.
Best shooting guard in Europe in 90s. Check YouTube to see how good he was.

February 26th, 2012 at 3:58 pm

Mr. Walters,
you are waaaay off. I don’t see how anyone can compare murder with giving wild cards, even in jest.
Americans should be spared the effort and expense of travelling to Europe/Australia, but how about a number of say, Russian excellent players who are better ranked and have to go through qualifying rounds?
The truth is, the organizers have the power and possibility to give WC to whomever they want to.

February 26th, 2012 at 5:56 pm

What a bunch of hypocrites! While Mr Federer and Mr.Nadal were getting favorable draw at grand slams over the years nobody said a thing!!? Now it’s a big deal having Marko Djokovic play in Dubai.

February 26th, 2012 at 10:36 pm

@Wog boy

I live in Serbia actually. Bollettieri was in Belgrade, Serbia last summer, and Djordje was practicing with him every day at Novak courts, for about a week. That’s how I got the chance to see them.

As for Olga, yes I know about her. She also won a tournament before Florida, in Istria, and then after Florida, she became Serbian state champion for under 12. She is now a new Serbian tennis hope! She’s a sweetheart :)

February 27th, 2012 at 2:57 pm

MalaMo,

I was there, Novak courts, last year in Old Belgrade Town. I didn’t see any tennis but had perfect “riblja corba” in one of the restaurants overlooking Sava&Danube rivers towards New Belgrade and Gardos in Zemun, where I grew up going acroos Danube to Lido beach in the boat that was just about to sink how overloaded it was, but never sunk. Good old days 35-40 years ago :)
Hopefully I will return one day to rest my old bones where I use to run around..,,and watch some good tennis played by Djordje and Olga :-)

Thanks&Cheers

February 27th, 2012 at 6:12 pm

Dubai snubbed the top Arab player (No. 104 Malek Jaziri)in favour of No. 900 Marko Djokovic (Novak’s brother), No. 200 Sergei Bubka (the great pole vaulter’s son) and unranked Omar Awadhy (Dubai player). What a disgrace, such nepotism.
http://tennis.si.com/2012/02/27/dubai-snubs-arab-no-1-in-favor-of-djokovics-brother/

February 28th, 2012 at 1:57 am

Dave,

If you are Dubai tournament director and the best sportsman on the planet (Laureaus) tells you that he may rest until Indian Wells and would come to your tournament only if you could “motivate” him to do so, you are giving wild card to his barber and chauffeur, not to mention his brother who happens to be a tennis player. Heck, if Novak had asked that Marko replaces Federer, they would have probably agreed as well! We are talking about No. 1, best sportsman in the world and the winner of the 3 last Dubai tournaments. You NEED that guy if you smart. On the other hand, Jaziri – you’ll survive his absence, no problem…

Had you ever run any business, you would have known that things like that are called successful operations and not “disgrace” as you bitterly pointed out.

Novak likes his brother and did what he need to help him out. Tournament organizers love their tournament and did what they needed to secure participation of the best sportsman on the planet. Everyone did a right thing. You are just too naive or too bitter to notice it. Little bit of both I suspect, based on your Roger-idolizing posts that you have been inundating us with lately.

February 28th, 2012 at 4:29 am

Dave, you forgot to say that Bubka iz Azarenka’s boyfriend, that helps too.
I think it is time to inform Ban Ki Moon and UN Security Council and ask them to impose sanctions and no fly zone on Dubai. This very important issue to be swept under the carpet.
How dare they can do that. I am furios!

BTW, does anyone know who got the WC in Memphis?
Did they respect rankings or not. Did we have players who had to play qualif. and were better ranked then players who were given WC? What happened at AO, were there players who were given WC and their ranking was worst them players who had to play qualif.? We should check all tournaments and stop this practice, right Dave?

February 28th, 2012 at 4:44 am

To many spelling mistakes to correct them all, sorry.

February 28th, 2012 at 5:00 am

@Mila djokass may be the best tennis player at the moment but he ain’t no sportsman so to speak. Cheating and faking injuries – are those the actions of a true sportsman and world no1? I don’t think so!!!

February 28th, 2012 at 7:17 am

Jon Wertheim senior sports writer for Sports Illustrated tweeted ‘spare a thought for Malek Jaziri, casualty of the Marko Djokovic wild card’.

February 28th, 2012 at 8:03 am

@ Lloyd Walters, you are sounding just a tad prejudiced there, buddy? You seem to have it in for not only Novak, but his whole family and the entire country for that matter. This argument about how wild cards are issued is not new. It has been pointed out in other instances that the tournaments have the right to issue cards to whomever they choose. This occured when Americans were outraged with Donald Young not getting a WILD CARD. Maybe you should petition the director of the Dubai tournament instead, since it was their decision. Actually the players that have gone to the Belgrade tourney have nothing but glowing comments about the organization, facilities and the people. As a matter of fact,Marat Safin went to get pointers from the Djokovic family. Oh the outrage of it all! Politicians lie to you, priests molest innocent children,wall street cheats you, but that pales in comparison to Marko Djokovic getting a wild card. Get a grip Lloyd and then go get a life you pathetic hater.

February 29th, 2012 at 3:43 pm

Psychic Predictions for 2012:

AO: Djokovic(duh)

FO: Nadal

Wimbledon: Murray

Olympics: Federer

USO: Djokovic

March 1st, 2012 at 8:25 pm