French Open - Novak Djokovic dancing to his own beat

SURELY this is not how you prepare to win your second consecutive grand slam event and take over the top ranking - unless you are "The Djoker".

With dance tunes cranking at chest-thumping volume, thousands of fist-pumping fans on their feet and famous French DJ Bob Sinclar impersonating Bjorn Borg on the other side of the net, Novak Djokovic spent a large slice of French Open eve relaxing the best way he knows how.

Clowning around to the delight of the packed stands for a kids' day at Court Philippe Chatrier, the Australian Open champion showed the very essence of his barnstorming season in which he has won 37 consecutive matches.

Rafael Nadal, who must defend his Roland Garros title and hope Djokovic fails to reach the final if he is to stop the Serb from replacing him as world No.1, put it in one word: Confidence.

"Everybody knows how good Novak is and how good he can be, but it was the same a few years ago," Nadal said.

"Right now he's winning, and with the victories, your confidence is higher and higher every time."

Nadal has branded Djokovic the favourite, although the latter returned the compliment.

Roger Federer, the 2009 champion, believes the focus on their rivalry can work to his advantage.

"Last year I was the defending champion. The year before and the years before that I was trying to win Paris for the first time," Federer said.

"So I've always had that big cloud hanging over and the 'am I ever going to win the French Open' question.

"That's been answered. I think this year, maybe they expect more from Rafa and Novak and that could be a good thing for me and more pressure for them."

While he did not look like a man under pressure, Djokovic acknowledged he was not invincible.

"I don't feel unbeatable, nobody is unbeatable, even though I had an incredible run that keeps going," Djokovic said.

"I'm really not trying to think about the run that I have, or I'm not trying to think about when this run will end because that will mean that I'm thinking about losing."

Djokovic was also proud to play his part in shaking up the men's game.

"I think it's good for the sport to have another rivalry in tennis," he said.

WTA - Hot Maria Sharapova reaches Rome Final

Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova in the final, after she beat world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki 7-5 6-3 in a match littered with service breaks.

Sharapova rolled back the years with a performance of crisp power hitting to eventually prove too much for her Danish opponent.

She broke Wozniacki early on but when she led 4-3 there were four breaks in a row until the Russian finally held serve to take the set 7-5.

The service struggles continued at the start of the second set as four of the first five games went against the server.

That saw Wozniacki open up a 3-1 lead but Sharapova wouldn't let her consolidate and reeled off the final five games as she consistently found the corners with rasping ground-strokes.

ATP Tennis - Novak Djokovic survives scare to set Nadal showdown

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic’s winning streak looked under severe threat for a time against Thomaz Bellucci, but the Serbian held strong to prevail 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday and give himself the chance to topple reigning champion Rafal Nadal in a blockbuster final at the Mutua Madrid Open,

ATP - Victory 28 and rising for Djokovic

NOVAK Djokovic and Rafael Nadal both extended their win streaks with opening victories at the ATP-WTA Madrid Masters overnight as Roger Federer waited for his chance to join them in the third round.

Djokovic, who beat South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-4, extended his run of 2011 success to 28 consecutive matches, putting the Serb within striking distance of the record for the all-time best season start in tennis.

The second seed now has a chance to draw level with Ivan Lendl, who went 29 matches without defeat at the start of the 1986 season.

Nadal won a 35th consecutive match on the surface, efficiently dispatching former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis 6-1 6-3 in just under 90 minutes. Nadal has not lost on clay since 2009 in the French Open fourth round to Robin Soderling.

The top-seeded title holder next faces a high-voltage third-round showdown with Argentine Juan Del Potro, who thrashed Marin Cilic 6-3 6-0 after complaining of hip pain a day earlier.

Third seed Federer was opening against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez later having won all seven of their previous encounters.

Djokovic, the world No.2, says he is only interested in replacing Nadal atop the ATP rankings.

"It's a great honour and flattering to be part of the elite, but it's not my priority,'' said Djokovic.

"I'm only taking it one match at a time and just hoping I can keep winning.''

Novak Djokovic wins the Serbia Open to capture his 23rd title

Djokovic continued his undefeated run on tour this season as he took down his fifth title of the year.

Novak Djokovic defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain in the championship match from ATP Belgrade on Sunday.

Djokovic faced a little bit of a challenge in the match as Lopez took the world number two to a tiebreaker. However Djokovic, like top players often do, won the tense points and then the Serbian raced to a straight sets victory after that. 

The match ended at 7-6, 6-2 with Djokovic claiming both his 5th title of the 2011 season and his 23rd title overall in his career.

Djokovic will now prepare for the 2011 ATP Madrid Masters draw, a tournament that has already seen some results come in for the main draw.

The Madrid Masters is a significant because it will be the first clay court event of 2011 that has both Rafael Nadal and Djokovic in it. Djokovic was expected to play in Monte-Carlo in April however he withdrew with a knee problem and that enabled Nadal to win the title without having to face the world number two.