Djokovic Quarter at the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid

Madrid, Spain – The darling of the tennis-betting world at the start of the year, Novak Djokovic opens his Madrid Masters campaign tomorrow against Romanian qualifier Victor Hanescu.

When Djokovic won his maiden Grand Slam title – the Australian Open – great things were predicted for the Serbian sensation. When he picked up two Master titles in the spring months (Indian Wells and Rome), it appeared the prophecies would come true.

A lot has changed for Djokovic since then. Djokovic has not won a title since Rome, his stock in the tennis-betting world has taken a beating and not to mention his popularity – in the locker room and amongst tennis betting fans – has seen a decline.

With Djokovic’s popularity and crowd support waning and Robin Soderling (another unpopular tennis player) inhabiting his section, the growing lukewarm reaction from tennis betting fans to both lends more drama to their susceptible section of the draw.

Tennis Betting Line: Novak Djokovic vs. Victor Hanescu

Match Time: 05:00 AM Eastern Time Wednesday October 15, 2008

Tennis Betting Analysis: Fame has clearly gotten to Djokovic – the second half of the season has been most telling in this respect. He has tallied an enviable 58-14 mark for the year but he has not won anything in the last four months.

He has had a consistent year and aside from crashing out of the second round of Wimbledon – his only blemish in the summer – Djokovic has gone to the quarters or better in all his subsequent tournaments.

Where the concern lies is in his inability to win a title in spite of twice featuring in the final movement of a tournament. In Cincinnati, he finished runner-up to Murray and in Bangkok he lost to Tsonga.

Victor Hanescu won one title this year in Gstaad. The Romanian had to qualify for the event in Madrid as his ranking was not high enough for direct entry – he ranks No. 73 in the world.

Hanescu arrived with a 19-21 mark for the year but improves to 20-21 with his first round triumph. He reached the second round when he upset Dmitry Tursunov in the opening round.

Tennis Betting Prediction Hanescu could challenge Djokovic well in the second round although he is not expected to win the match by most. Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 1-0, having beaten Hanescu in 2005 at the ATP Masters in Paris. Typically, Djokovic has little trouble against lesser-ranked players. By all indications he should win this match in a straightforward fashion and set up a blockbuster third round match against Robin Soderling or Ivo Karlovic.

Tennis Free Picks: Djokovic in straight sets

Nila Amerova is a freelance sports writer and regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room