Novak Djokovic sees gap closing between top flight players

NOVAK Djokovic got a closer look at how the competition stacks up at the Australian Open when he mixed it with Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters yesterday.

Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt had already teamed up against Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick to get the Haiti earthquake relief exhibition match started on Rod Laver Arena.

Djokovic was next on, the only man on court when he partnered US Open champion Clijsters in a mixed doubles match against top-ranked Williams and Australia's Samantha Stosur.

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Players, organisers and pundits have spoken animatedly about the increasing competition in women's tennis with Belgians Clijsters and Justine Henin returning from retirement, and with Maria Sharapova here for the first time since her 2008 title run.

While the competition intensifies for Serena and Venus Williams and a host of Russians led by Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova, few expect much change in the status quo on the men's side.

With 17 of the last 19 majors between them, Federer and Nadal have set up a seemingly two-man contest at the Grand Slam tournaments. But No 3-ranked Djokovic sees it differently.

"I think it's getting very interesting, men's tennis. It's good for the sport to have a good group of players that are able to win," said the Serb. "I think over the years this can be one of the most exciting Grand Slams."

Djokovic had an upset semi-final win over Federer en route to the title here two years ago. The only other player to interrupt the Federer-Nadal domination which started at the 2005 French Open was Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, who upset Federer to win the US Open in September.

Djokovic said Del Potro's win had given extra confidence to the players ranked from No 3 down.

"Of course it does," he said. "The last five, six years the dominance was obvious from Federer, Nadal. They've been winning all the Grand Slams they've played. But now in the last two years or so, things are changing a little bit.

"You have Del Potro, Murray, Roddick, Davydenko. They're all in great shape, great form."

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Djokovic said it was good for tennis, "and it's good for us, the group of players that is trying to catch up. We have more belief that we can win Grand Slams."

Among them, No 4 Del Potro of Argentina, No 5 Murray and No 7 Roddick are all in action today, when the bottom halves of the men's and women's draws get started.

Nadal, who beat Federer in five sets in the final last year to win his first major on hardcourts, will start the night session – 0800 GMT – on Rod Laver Arena against Australian Peter Luczak.

Maria Sharapova gets the women's schedule under way on Melbourne Park's main stadium today against fellow Russian Maria Kirilinko. Clijsters, who won the US Open in September in only her third tournament back from time off to get married and have a baby, is second up on centre court against Valerie Tetreault of Canada.

Seven-time Grand Slam winner Henin makes her Grand Slam comeback against fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkens on Hisense Arena, the other main show court.

Henin lost to Clijsters at the Brisbane International on 9 January, her first tournament since she quit, as world No 1, in May 2008. It was Clijsters' victory in the US Open that inspired the 27-year-old Henin to come back.

Serena Williams has won three of the seven majors since Henin last played the Australian Open, and comes into this tournament as defending champion and holder of the season-ending championship. The Williams sisters are in the top half of the draw and won't play their first-round matches until tomorrow.

Federer and Djokovic also get today off, which helped them stay loose for yesterday's "Hit for Haiti" fundraiser which pulled a capacity crowd of 15,000 people, who all paid AU$10 (5.60) to be there.

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The low-pressure workout was probably a refreshing break for Djokovic, who has had mixed receptions from crowds since he broke into the Grand Slam winners' club. "Winning a Grand Slam opened a lot of doors for me, gave me a lot of opportunities, of course, a lot of self-confidence," he said. "But on the other hand, it took a lot of responsibility, pressure and expectations.

"It was all new for me. I've been through ups and downs mentally and experienced some things that I never did before. Right now ... I love what I'm doing. I love playing, travelling around, competing. I just can take that 2008 and '09 as a big lesson to my life."