BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: World number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia was yesterday drawn to play his unseeded compatriot Dusan Lajovic at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open where Spanish icon Rafael Nadal will be looking to defend the title next week.
Djokovic, who finished the 2014 ATP season by winning his fourth season finale title in London in November, will be looking to kick off his 2015 season on a winning note when he makes his first appearance at the Doha event.
However, the 27-year-old Serb withdrew from the final of the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi yesterday due to fever — handing Andy Murray his first title of the season.
In the second round, Djokovic is expected to clash with tall Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who is seeded seventh in Doha.
In the first-half of the 32-man draw, the reigning Wimbledon champion is likely to meet fourth seed David Ferrer of Spain in quarter-finals.
Djokoivic is also listed to play the doubles with Filip Krajinovic. In 2014 Djokovic played doubles in just four tournaments so that he could concentrate on his singles career.
Lajovic, however, is ready for the “challenge” of playing the world number one.
“What can I say, it is a big challenge,” Lajovic said yesterday. “It is going to be a tough start, I guess. I will try my best. Maybe I did not have the luck of the draw but that’s tennis,” he said.
When asked if he could upset the world number one, Lajovic, 24, said: “I just hope I can give my best. Novak is the world’s best player and it is a challenge for me.”
Thirty-two-year-old Ferrer, winner of 21 ATP Tour titles, will kick off his season with a clash against a qualifier in the first round while Karlovic, 35, will play Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic.
Fifth seed Phillipp Kohlscreiber of Germany takes on compatriot Jan-Lennard Struff while sixth seed Richard Gasquet of France faces Spain’s Pablo Andujar in their opening clashes.
Nadal, who started 2014 with a win at the $1m Qatar ExxonMobil Open last January, plays a qualifier in the first round.
A possible victory in the second round with eighth seed Leonardo Mayer of Argentina could see the former world number one enter the quarter-finals, where he could run into Thomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.
In his first competition since undergoing an appendectomy at the start of November, Nadal yesterday brushed
aside Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 in the third-place match of the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi.
Twenty-nine-year-old Berdych, seeded three in Doha, opens his account with a match against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
The winner in Doha will pocket $195,000 and 250 ranking points. The losing finalist goes home with $102,675 and 150 ranking points.
The losing semi-finalists end up $55,615 richer.
After the January 10 final in Doha, the players head to Melbourne for the season’s first Grand Slam in Australia.
THE PENINSULA
