Novak Djokovic defeated Polish lucky loser Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) in front of his home crowd to win the inaugural ATP Serbia Open claycourt tournament.

This was Novak's fourth consecutive ATP World Tour final, his fifth overall in 2009, and this is his second title of the season. He won in Dubai (d. Ferrer) in late February. Novak had reached three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals in his past three tournaments, finishing runner-up to Andy Murray on hard court in Miami and to Rafael Nadal on the clay courts at Monte-Carlo and Rome.

"I won the first event that has ever been organised in our country, we must be proud of our organisation and we must be proud of the big picture that has been sent to the world," said Djokovic. "We are a small country, but this country has a lot of potential, a lot of good things and I think after this tournament the world will think only nice things about us.

"If we are looking at the category of the event (ATP World Tour 250 tournament) it’s not the biggest success I ever had, but it certainly is the most important win for me."



Novak wrapped up the first set after racing to a 5-1 lead and then came from 5-2 down in the second to win the tiebreak without dropping a point. He put on a shirt saying "Serbia, I love you" and hugged his parents and brothers in their courtside box after his win.


"Of course I felt pressure (throughout the week)," said Djokovic. "I was aware of the fact that most expectations are behind me and having the role of the main favourite to win the event is never easy. Under these circumstances I had to play against two Serbians in the first two matches. So there were a lot of things involved but I’m relieved in a way that I could mentally overcome these challenges and go all the way through."

Kubot was playing in his first ever career final after wins over No. 3 seed Igor Andreev of Russia and Croatian Ivo Karlovic, among others, and had not lost a set before Sunday's final. World No. 179 would have been the lowest-ranked title winner on the ATP World Tour in 2009 had he succeeded.


He was given the "lucky loser" tag because he entered the event when Belgium's Steve Darcis withdrew because of a right shoulder injury.

"I had nothing to lose, but it was tough to play against Novak, especially because he was playing different than the other opponents before," said Kubot. "He was trying to play with me, to move me on the court and he didn’t go for big shots, winners. As long as he was playing the rallies against me, he was winning... He was more experienced in the end, in the tie-breaker in the second set, and then he won it.

"For me, it was an experience. It was very nice to play in Serbia because the crowd was supporting very fair, and it was very nice to play in a full house today."


(photo/ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images, Reuters Pictures)

Novak Djokovic wins Serbia Open