MELBOURNE, Australia -- Top-ranked Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep, as expected, were given the No. 1 seedings on Thursday when the Australian Open announced its singles seedings list.
The Sydney Morning Herald writes
By Paul Sakkal
Aiming to become the first man to win seven Australian Open titles, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic said Melbourne's unique "tennis buzz" at the season-opening event gave him extra drive to push for another victory this month.
"It’s quite amazing ... people adore all sorts of sports here ... but for these couple of weeks eyes are focused on tennis," said the 31-year-old.
"It’s a dream come true for any player."
Reflecting on his career, Djokovic cited the almost 6-hour 2012 Open final against Rafael Nadal as arguably the "most exciting match I’ve been part of", saying he continued to play professional tennis not to prove anything to himself or the public, but for the "pure emotion and love" of the game.
"I’ve achieved enough," said the 14-time slam winner.
Djokovic, a nature-lover, also revealed his Open superstition: climbing an old fig tree – which he labelled a ‘friend’ – in Melbourne’s Botanical Gardens.
If he were to take out this year’s Open – making it his third grand slam on the trot – the Serb will become the outright leader of the Australian Open men’s single stakes, jumping ahead of Australian great Roy Emerson and Roger Federer.
Image SBS Serbian
Federer, last year’s Open champion, acknowledged he was in the mix for another Melbourne Park gong, but said Djokovic was out in front of the leading pack.
"In terms of who is going to win it, we know who the usual suspects are and I am part of that bunch," said the Swiss ace.
"No doubt about it, Novak is the favourite.
"The guy had a super, super strong last five or six months of the year. He struggled early but once he found his class and the groove back, he is hard to beat."
