Ivan Ljubicic kicks off his Zagreb Indoors campaign against Slovakia's Karol Beck.
Ljubicic may be turning 33 in a couple of months but he's still feared indoors. The big Croatian won the inaugural Zagreb event back in 2006 and made the final for the following two years.
The Zagreb title has only twice left Croatian hands and Ljubicic and his compatriots will be keen to keep it that way this week. And in the absence of two-time champion Marin Cilic, a lot of the expectations will be falling on top seed Ljubicic. Ivan Dodig may be defending champion but he's done little to back up his triumph last year.
Ljubicic will be well acclimatized to the freezing temperatures and fast indoor courts of Zagreb. He made his customary early exit at the Australian Open. He's never liked competing in the heat and has only once made the second week in Melbourne.
The lightning fast indoor surface this week will be more to his liking. But this could be a tricky opening match. Ljubicic will know not to underestimate Beck who also possesses a cannonball of a serve and likes competing indoors. Plus he used to be top 40 in the world and can still turn on that class on his day.
Beck won their first match in Milan back in 2004 but Ljubicic has beaten him twice since, although he required three sets each time.
