By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, March 6, 2021
Novak Djokovic is aiming to return to action at the Miami Open this month, which will be his first appearance since winning his 18th Grand Slam title.
Photo credit: Australian Open Facebook
Novak Djokovic aims to celebrate his record run at No. 1 in the Sunshine State.
The world No. 1 is targeting his return from a torn abdominal muscle at this month's Miami Open.
More: Federer Fired Up for Return
Djokovic, who demolished Daniil Medvedev to capture his 18th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last month, announced on his website he plans to return in Miami.
The Miami Open men's draw begins on Wednesday, March 24th.It will be Djokovic's first tournament appearance since he surged to his ninth Australian Open crown and later revealed an MRI showed his abdominal tear had grown from 17 to 25 millimeters from the strain of Grand Slam play.
On Monday, Djokovic will surpass rival Roger Federer and take sole possession of the ATP record for most weeks at No. 1 when he celebrates his 311th week in the top spot.
Djokovic can break another record with a title run in Miami.
The 33-yar-old Serbian superstar is a six-time Miami Open champion, a record he shares with former coach Andre Agassi. Djokovic won his last Miami title in 2016 defeating Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-3 when the tournament was staged in Key Biscayne.
Two years ago, Roberto Bautista Agut stunned Djokovic in the Miami round of 16 scoring a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory.
The owner of 82 career titles, Djokovic will carry a 9-0 record in 2021 into Miami and is driven to continue his hunt for the Grand Slam record.
"In terms of calculating the amount of slams that Rafa predicting might win French or somewhere else, myself, getting closer to maybe Roger's, Rafa's record, Serena, Margaret," Djokovic said in Melbourne. "Look, everyone has their own journey and their own way of making history. They've made history already. They made a tremendous mark in our sport. I'm trying to build that and develop that myself in a very unique, authentic way that is suitable to me.
"Whether I think about winning more slams and breaking records, of course. Of course, I do. And most of my attention and my energy from this day forward, until I retire from tennis, is going to be directed in majors, trying to win more major trophies."
Following Miami, Djokovic has listed a pair of clay-court events on his calendar: the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters set for April 11-18th and The Serbia Open, an ATP 250 tournament, which will be held from April 19 to April 25th at the Novak Djokovic Tennis Center. The tournament relocated from Budapest, Hungary to Serbia.
Djokovic ruled his hometown tournament in 2009 and 2011.