Novak Djokovic prepares the 2012 French Open by rolandgarros

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The Serbia Open may be no more shortly. The clay tournament that is currently owed by the Djokovic family is in turmoil.

Novak’s Uncle is in charge of the tournament and has tendered his resignation. Goran has also put the rights to the tournament up for sale.

The tournament is only in its 4th year after switching from the Dutch Open but has suffered setbacks in attracting attention.

Novak withdrew this year due to the passing of his Grandfather and along with other Serbs performing badly, the tournament was not popular.

It suffers from its calendar slot, sandwiched between Monte Carlo and Madrid so does not attract the “star names” of tennis. A few Spanish cities have already expressed an interest in purchasing the rights and include Seville and Marbella.

If the tournament is to move hopefully it will go somewhere that does not already host a tournament. Tennis needs to spread its wings but it also needs to be mindful that not all countries residents can pay similar prices to the more established tournaments. Maybe this a reason why the Serbia Open has failed?

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Djokovic says that in Rome “you can actually be on the ball and slide well, where there you were slipping and falling down.”

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“I want to forget this week as soon as possible and move on to the real clay courts,”

“It took me at least a week to try to get used to this surface and somehow find a way to win matches and play a decent level of tennis,”

“There is no discussion in my eyes, it’s very simple. No blue clay for me.”

The courts were not his only target:

“I don’t blame the new president (Australian former player Brad Drewett),”

“He came to the job in January. It was the last president. He was going away and knew his contract was not renewed. He made the decision on his own.

“Something was going on behind closed doors. He (Helfant) didn’t care about tennis and what the players thought. He was only interested in himself and his interests.”

“The losers this week are the players and their opinions. They (ATP) made the decision without players agreeing on it. This is a rule that has to be changed immediately.

“The tournament has done its job and represented its own interests,” he said of the blue courts, which have proved to be successful for television viewing.

“I can’t blame the event for fighting for its own rights. The fault is from the people who gave them permission. We discussed this in 2011 – we were more than clear we didn’t want it. “

Roger had added his thoughts that are very different from Novak and Rafa.

“If you want to be a good claycourt player, you must be able to play everywhere,”

This of course is true. To be the best you should be able to adapt to a variety of surfaces. Is this where Rafa & Novak fall down with their argument? We saw with the Raonic v Federer that attacking, entertaining tennis can be played. The tour is currently too defensive so those at the top who have “less variety” in their game are going to be hardest hit.

But the tour is not only about Rafa & Novak, it is about 100+ players who have different styles & talent. The sooner the tour reflects this the better the game will be.

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At the 14th time of asking Fernando Verdasco has finally registered a win over compatriot Rafael Nadal.

Rafa was all over the shop and twice served for the match. To not close out with the chances he was presented is rather very worrying. But credit must go to Fernando, the court is fast and he played for winners and was rewarded. The joy was there for all to see at the end of the match. There was a prolonged lie on the clay, a big hug from Dad and a little cry into his towel at his chair.

The other all Spanish affair was a very closely fought battle with Almagro and Ferrer. Nico had MP’s to try and register his first win over Ferrer but unlike Verdasco he was not able to take advantage and it is David who will next play Federer.

Roger Federer have an easier time on court yesterday against Frenchman Gasquest. A straight sets victory was registered 6-3 6-2.

Novak had a few slips on his way to the Quarter Final against Wawrinka but steadied himself for a 7-6 6-4 win.

Janko Tipsarevic seems to like 3 set matches as he again went the distance against Simon last into the night. He finally booked his spot against fellow Serb Djokovic with a 7-6 5-7 6-1 win.

Other resuts:

Juan Martin Del Potro beat Marin Cilic 6-2 6-4
Alexandr Dolgopolov beat Jo Wilfried Tsonga 7-5 3-6 7-6
Tomas Berdych beat Gael Monfils 6-1 6-41

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