Novak Djokovic has returned to Belgrade from Monte Carlo where he is preparing for the Serbia Open, organized by his family’s Family Sport company, which is scheduled to begin on 2 May.

The Djokovic family wants to organize the event in the best possible manner, while Novak made sure everything was going according to plan. He trained on Thursday at the Milan Gale Muskatirovic Sports Centre and tested the newly-laid clay surface for the Serbia Open 2009 event.

Nole will certainly be the biggest star of the tournament, joined by his compatriots Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki. Serbia’s number one is so far the only ATP top 10 player who has confirmed his participation, as Spaniard Fernando Verdasco has opted to play at the Estoril Open, scheduled for the same week.

Stepanek, Canas, Nishikori, Hanescu are some of the names from abroad. But the organizers of the Serbia Open have not handed their last wild card invite, as they hope some of the top 10 players will still request to take part in the event, which would give further prominence to the tournament.

"We are satisfied with the list of the players that will take part, especially because the tournament will be held for the first time. One more place is left and there’s a posibility that some of the big names joins us. Marcos Baghdatis contacted us and said he wanted to participate. It is possible that we will give him the wildcard, but we will leave space to bring maybe some even more attractive player. As for the names that have previously been mentioned, for example Verdasco, he was already on Estoril Entry List, and couldn’t accept our invitation." - said Goran Djokovic.


(translated from the blic.rs, novakdjokovic.rs)

Novak opens tennis centre in Belgrade