Novak Djokovic leads Serbia's quest to defend their Davis Cup title. They take on India in the first round this weekend.
One of the most criticised aspects of the Davis Cup format is how a country can win the title in December but then have lost their crown by the beginning of March. With no seedings, there was nothing to prevent a potential Serbia-Spain clash in round one. Thankfully that did not happen this year and Serbia should enjoy a fairly comfortable start against India.
The tie is being played in Belgrade and Djokovic will enjoy a rapturous welcome. He has become a cult hero in his country after leading them to Davis Cup glory last year before winning the Australian Open again. He remains unbeaten in 2011 and by outplayed Roger Federer to win the Dubai title last week, he confirmed his status as the man to beat in world tennis.
The rest of December's heroes are all back. Janko Tipsarevic is also in fine form, making the Delray Beach final at the weekend and he may replace Viktor Troicki as the second singles player.
India's chances are pretty slim. Somdev Devvarman is now ranked inside the top 100 but he lacks the weapons to trouble the game's elite and Rohan Bopanna currently languishes at 629 in the rankings. Veteran doubles pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi represent their best hopes of winning a rubber. Both are still firmly established in the top ten of the doubles rankings and will pose a strong challenge for whoever partners up with Nenad Zimonjic.
