Novak Djokovic’s preparations for the defence of his Australian Open title suffered an unexpected setback after being knocked out of the Brisbane International in the first round.The world no. 3 who has made a switch over to Head from Wilson, lost his debut match at the brand new Pat Rafter Arena to Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-4 6-4.“I am not panicking,” he told reporters.
“The Australian Open is my highest goal for this part of the year and I really want to play well there.
“It’s not the end of the world. It’s the first match, so I’m not going to be pessimistic.
“I have a lot of time now to prepare for the Aussie Open.”
From a chat with Zara, Nole could be getting/accepting wild card entry to play at the Medibank International Sydney Tennis Tournament starting this weekend.
He has to accept it (if offered) or else he will begin the Australian Open with only one competitive match under his belt this season.
(Image via Yahoo! Sport)
Did Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal get the right trophies?
Nadal looks like a winner to me, no?Alright, in reality Andy Murray is the winner and he must be sending alarming statement to the big players now that he had beaten Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the Abu Dhabi exho last week.Murray defeated Nadal 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 on Saturday to take the Capitala World Tennis Championship exhibition and walked away with $250,000 a winner-take-all prize.
A day earlier in the semifinals, he topped the No. 2-ranked Federer 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6).“This victory was good before I go to Australia,” said Murray, who is now in Doha to defend his Qatar Open title.
“I have never been past the fourth round there. I trained hard over the break and the victories over the past three days have given me confidence.”
Murray’s last and only victory over Nadal was at the U.S. Open semifinals back in September.
“He has carried his form over the last four months and he has a good chance to win in Australia,” Nadal said.
“For me it was a very good test,” he said.
“Playing 2 hours, 45 minutes at the best level is good. I forgot about my knee and my injury. I am looking forward to the year.”
(Images via Yahoo! Sport)