Novak Djokovic to face 28-year-old Italian Andrea Stoppini in the opening round of the Australian Open

The Australian Open 2009 draw has decided that Novak will play against Italian Andrea Stoppini in the
opening round of this first Grand Slam tournament of the year. This encounter is situated in the 3rd section
of the Australian Open draw table and should be an easy task for the 21-year-old Serbian star.

Djokovic starts, for the first time in his career, from the position of defending title holder. As we all know, Novak had a brilliant start to the 2008 season by winning the final at the Rod Laver Arena against the Frenchman Tsonga (4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6). This lead to his best season so far ended on the 3rd spot of the ATP rankings, very close behind former leader Roger Federer.

Because of the ATP ranking rules the Serbian needs to match last year’s performance in order not to lose ground in the ATP race. Novak Gjokovic needs a strong start if he wants to improve on last season’s 3rd spot.

Some words now about Andrea Stoppini. The Italian is 28-years-old and ended season 2008 ranking on the 224th spot. Andrea was born in Trento on 29th February 1980 and is a right-handed player. It will be an honour for him to play against World number 3.

The Australian Open starts on the 19th January 2009 and will unveil its winner on the 1st of February. If you
are spending most of your time on the internet you can also watch the Australian Open live online starting with Monday. We will keep you updated with Novak’s performance during the Aussie Open.

Source : http://www.tennis-player-novakdjokovic.info/