Photo: Ron C. Angle
In a mouth-watering clash to be played under the lights on Rod Laver Arena, Marcos will duel World No. 3 and defending champion Novak Djokovic for a place in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Getting to know…Novak Djokovic
The Serbian won his first Grand Slam championship at last year’s Australian Open, defeating Roger Federer in the semi-finals before overcoming inspired Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the title match.
The 21-year-old Belgrade native followed up with ATP World Tour titles at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Rome and closed his season with victory at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai.
The charismatic Serb had mixed results at the start of the season. He suffered a first round upset against Ernests Gulbis in his first match on the 2009 ATP World Tour in Brisbane and lost in the semi-finals in Sydney. However, he has started to find his form in Melbourne and has dropped just one set en route to the fourth round.
Head-to-Head
Marcos is squaring up to Djokovic for the first time since losing to the Serb in an epic five-set Wimbledon quarter-final match in 2007. They had played for the first time just a couple of months earlier on clay at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome, when Djokovic had prevailed in a more comfortable straight sets victory.
See full head-to-head details here.
In his favour, Marcos does have a winning 16-12 record against Top 10 ranked players and has won three of his past five encounters against the game’s elite.
Marcos’ View
“Slowly I'm winning matches, I'm fighting like an animal, working a bit hard and it pays off, so I'm pretty happy about that. I have nothing to lose now, just go on the court, play my tennis, try to win every point, find a solution and that's what I'm trying to do, so I'm very, very happy.
"It's a Grand Slam. I'm very motivated for a Grand Slam, especially here in Melbourne. I feel like I have a Grand Slam at home with all the crowd and stuff.
"I set as an objective to pass the first week, so I guess the objective is a bit completed. So I'm pretty happy, but it's not finished. I know I'm in the fourth round playing against Djokovic, but I'll try to find a way to push him down and try to find a way to win the match."
When and Where
Unsurprisingly, this blockbuster match-up is scheduled for the night session on Rod Laver Arena on Sunday and is sure to have a roaring atmosphere. Starting at 19:30 local time, home favourite Jelena Dokic will take on Alisa Kleybanova before Marcos and Djokovic take to the court.
As always, you can peruse the international television schedule here and the Australian Open web site features live scores and coverage on AO Radio.
If you’re lucky enough to be going, make sure you get right behind Marcos and make lots of noise.
Go, Marcos!
