NOVAK DJOKOVIC IS OFF TO A WINNING START IN DOHA, RAFAEL NADAL TAKES THE COURT ON TUESDAY BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 4th January 2016

Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Milos Raonic of Canada during their final match of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 02 January 2016. EPA/ALI HAIDER

epa05086272 Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Milos Raonic of Canada during their final match of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 02 January 2016. EPA/ALI HAIDER |

Photo by @novakdjokovicfp via Instagram.

Novak Djokovic kicked off his 2016 campaign with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Dustin Brown in round one of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Monday. Djokovic earned five service breaks in eight return games to cruise in a mere 51 minutes.

“It’s been six weeks since I played the last match, so I was very excited to go back to the court and compete and see how I go,” said the No. 1 seed, who capped off his dominant 2015 season with a title at the World Tour Finals. “Obviously you never know how you’re going to start from the blocks. You can do your best to prepare yourself well, which I did. I think I used the offseason very well to train to get my body in the right shape, and I think it was a very good start.”

This Doha event marked the only time throughout all of last year that the top-ranked Serb failed to reach a final. He lost to Ivo Karlovic in the quarters, as David Ferrer ultimately captured the title.

Ferrer is back in an attempt to lift the winner’s trophy once again. The 33-year-old Spaniard is coming off an impressive and underrated 2015 campaign. He booked a spot in the World Tour Finals despite missing two months–including Wimbledon and the entire American hard-court swing prior to the U.S. Open–because of an elbow injury. Ferrer, ranked seventh and seeded fourth, played last week in Abu Dhabi, double-breadsticking Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before falling to Nadal in three sets.

Up first for Ferrer on Tuesday is Illya Marchenko, whom he has never faced. This is a somewhat rare ATP-level, main-draw appearance for Marchenko, who registers at 94th in the rankings and spent most of his time on the Challenger circuit last season. A second-round performance at the U.S. Open as a qualifier followed by consistent success in Challengers helped the Ukrainian storm into the top 100.

Tuesday action will also feature none other than Rafael Nadal, who is set for a date with fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. The two friends and occasional doubles partners will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers. They previously faced each other last season on the clay courts of Rio de Janeiro, where Nadal prevailed 7-5, 6-3.

The No. 2 seed’s preparation for this debut match has been solid. Last week in a six-man Abu Dhabi exhibition event, Nadal captured the title with defeats of David Ferrer and Milos Raonic. He also got a match under his belt in Doha on Monday, losing in doubles with Fernando Verdasco 6-7(4), 6-4, 11-9 to Teymuraz Gabashvili and Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Spain’s Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Milos Raonic of Canada during their final match of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 02 January 2016. EPA/ALI HAIDER

Spain’s Rafael Nadal poses with his trophy after defeating Milos Raonic of Canada in their final match of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 02 January 2016. EPA/ALI HAIDER

Carreno Busta is coming off a solid but unspectacular 2015 campaign. He won 14 ATP-level matches, reached three Challenger finals (two titles), and finished at 67th in the world.