Novak Djokovic knows what almost everyone wants to see this week at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Sure, the fans will be pleased to watch the sixth-seeded Serbian face Martin Klizan of Slovakia in the second round on Wednesday. The contest will be only Djokovic's second match ever in Barcelona, after his one-and-done debut in 2006 when he was 18. But what will really make fans smile wide? A 51st FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup between Djokovic and 10-time Barcelona champion Rafael Nadal. Djokovic leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 26-24, and a quarter-final meeting in Spain would be their earliest matchup at a tournament since the 2016 Rome quarter-finals, when Djokovic advanced in straight sets. Nadal, however, won their most...
Novak Djokovic looks forward to continuing his positive momentum during the European clay-court season in Barcelona. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.
After an exciting start to the European clay-court season at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the clay swing continues in Barcelona and Budapest. World No. 1 Rafael Nadal leads the field at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, with three other Top 10 players as well as Novak Djokovic looking to challenge the 10-time champion. Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who won in Montpellier and advanced to the final in Marseille and Dubai earlier this year, is the top seed and defending champion at the Gazprom Hungarian Open. There is once again a strong field in the tournament's second year. View Draws: Barcelona | Budapest 10 THINGS TO WATCH IN BARCELONA 1) Best in Barcelona: Ten-time champion Rafael Nadal and former World No. 1...
Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has accepted a wild card into next week’s Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. It will be the Serbian’s first appearance at the event since 2006, when he fell in the first round. Djokovic competed in his first clay-court event at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters this week, losing a three-set thriller Thursday against Dominic Thiem. The ninth seed said after the match that he would like to play some more matches. [ALSO LIKE] “I'm feeling like it's been getting better every day. I've had three matches here. I didn't expect anything. I played without pain in the elbow, which is important. I have my coach Marian [Vajda] back in the box. So lot of good things,”...
To attempt to get inside Novak Djokovic's head these days is to imagine a battle of desire vs. reality: The former No. 1 in him wants to return to his glory days right now and to beat Dominic Thiem in the fourth round of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. But the more realistic side of Djokovic, the part of him that remembers he's played only nine matches in nine months, realises pushing the fifth-seeded Thiem, the only player to beat Rafael Nadal on clay last year, to three sets is by itself an accomplishment this early in his comeback from his right elbow injury. “Ideally I'd want to be playing the way I played for so many years,” said Djokovic, who...