Analysis for Djokovic-Ljubicic (ATP Dubai)

Head-to-head record 4:1

Serbian young star Novak Djokovic will face his Croat friend Ivan Lubicic and we are going to side with old Croatian warhorse again. Tall and powerfully built, he is noted for his strong serve and has achieved his best results in indoor tournaments or fast hardcourts. The surface here is not the fastest one but Ljubicic had nice warm-ups and especially the match against Tsonga was brilliant as he hasn´t offered a single break opportunity to the French favourite during the whole match. Ljubicic is really strong on serve and full of self confidence again. There is no doubt that Djokovic is one of the biggest talents in the world of tennis. He has had a good season so far but wasn´t that impressive here in Dubai losing a set to Troicki in previous round. He has great groundstrokes, especially forehand which is powerful, deep, well angled, and hit with strong topspin. With excellent speed, serve is one of his major weapons. Djokovic is very sound and powerful from the baseline but often finishes points by coming to the net as well. He is a good player but we don´t think there is such a big difference between these two. Odds above 5 are definitely worth trying for the lower stake.