Novak Djokovic plays Andrey Golubev at the Hopman Cup on Sunday.
This is a tricky match for Djokovic, Golubev made huge strides last year and is one of the ATP Tour's most improved players. The first match of the season is always tough and it will be interesting to see how Djokovic starts the year.
He will still be on a huge high after leading Serbia to Davis Cup glory just a few weeks ago but he has also only had a few weeks break. The tour can feel relentless at the best of times but with so little chance to recharge, we maybe shouldn't expect a huge amount from Djokovic over the next few weeks. Players who have won the Davis Cup, rarely perform well in Australia the following month.
Djokovic should have enough class to see off Golubev but it will be a testing opener for him. Golubev did well in fairly weak fields in Hamburg and Kuala Lumpur last year but when it came to the slams and Masters Series events where he was mixing it with the big names, he still struggled.
