© Monte-Carlo Masters
Will Djokovic remain the Master of Monaco?
Having dominated the ATP World Tour in recent years, what will 2016 bring Serbian Novac Djokovic
Now a resident of Monaco, Novak Djokovic is an athlete and sportsman that is close to the heart of this small Principality. The current world champion is now ramping up for the 2016 ATP World Tour.
This global elite professional tennis circuit is organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and encompasses various competitions and tournaments, including the Masters 1000; a series of nine tennis tournaments held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia. This is the most prestigious tournament in men's tennis after the four Grand Slam events and the ATP World Tour Finals.
The Masters 1000 tour will serve up the first round of competition in March in the US at the Indian Wells Masters, closely followed by the Miami Open. Next stop on the tour is Monte-Carlo Masters in April, before the stars of tennis move on to Spain and Italy in May.
After Rafa Nadal's eight year domination at the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he raised the trophy each year from 2005 to 2012, he was finally toppled by Monaco's very own Novak Djokovic in 2013. Stan Wawrinka beat fellow Swiss countryman Roger Federer to hold the title in 2014, and Djokovic returned strong in 2015 to hold the Monte-Carlo Masters trophy once again. (See video below)
The rivalry between Nadal and Djokovic has already been seen on the court in 2016 as they met in Doha, Qatar in January for the ATP World Tour 250 series. Djokovic came out on top.
"I haven't dropped a set the entire week," said Djokovic. "When it was most needed against one of my biggest rivals, I managed to play the best tennis in a match where I fought for the trophy. So it does definitely give me a great deal of confidence for the rest of the season.
"I'm playing the tennis of my life, and I will try to nurture and cherish those moments on the court. As I said in the ceremony, I will use this confidence level in every tournament that I play. I know that it can't go forever, but I'm not thinking too much ahead of myself."
After the match Rafa Nadal said, "Today, he's better than me. We will see in two weeks or we will see in five months. The only thing that you can do is wait that the opponent is not playing like this all the time. That is difficult to play like this all the time. It's obvious. I am going to wait for my moment."
A few weeks later, Djokovic then beat Roger Federer and Andy Murray to take the Australian Open title, proving that his form for this year is in fact, right on point. The world no.1 re-established himself as the king of Melbourne when he claimed a sixth Australian Open title in an astonishing final. His 11th Grand Slam trophy and 61st career title with a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (3) victory over second seed Andy Murray in two hours and 53 minutes.
The next tournament for Novak will be the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships at the end of February (22nd to 27th), where he finished runner-up to Federer last year.
It's going to be a long road to the Monte-Carlo Masters in April but so far it looks like we might have the King of Melbourne also being crowned the Master of Monte-Carlo!
