"Well, I don't know what his intentions are, how he feels, but he is definitely always one of the top favourites in every tournament that he plays," said Djokovic, who beat Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to join the Spaniard in the second round on Tuesday.
The winners of the season's first three grand slams Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal put on a masterclass at the Western and Southern Open on Wednesday, strolling into the third round with straight sets wins.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
India's Leander Paes and his German partner Alexander Zverev went down to the Spanish duo of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in a men's doubles first round match to bow out of the Cincinnati Open.
'I am not too disappointed. I feel like he had to come up with the goods, and it did feel like to some extent it was on my racquet, I just came up against somebody who was, on the day, a bit better when it really mattered'
He has three titles to his name this season, including winning a third Masters 1000 in Madrid, and on Saturday he will become the first German for 15 years to contest a semi-final match at the season-ending ATP Finals.
Novak Djokovic made an immense statement in his bid to rule men's tennis again when he defeated Andy Murray, the man who deposed him as world number one, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in an epic Qatar Open final in Doha on Saturday.
Andy Murray is performing a delicate balancing act as he prepares for a claycourt Davis Cup final and the ATP World Tour Finals on an indoor hardcourt at the O2 Arena.
Tomas Berdych rebounded from an opening defeat to revive his hopes at the ATP World Tour Finals by demolishing Croatia's Marin Cilic at the O2 Arena on Wednesday.
Tomic has withdrawn from his last four tournaments, pushing his ranking to depths that will require him to battle on lower-tier tours or beg for wildcards from tournament organisers next year.
US Open champion Stephens again ended former world number one Victoria Azarenka's hopes of a fairytale comeback by beating her 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in an afternoon encounter, while French Open champion Ostapenko beat unseeded American Danielle Collins in the nightcap, staving off a set point en route to a 7-6(1), 6-3 triumph.
Shapovalov made the world take note of him with his shock win over Rafael Nadal at the Montreal Masters. He then became the youngest player to reach the fourth round of the US Open, only his second Grand Slam, last week.
American teenager Amanda Anisimova, fresh off an impressive run at Indian Wells, beat China's Wang Qiang 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 at the Miami Open on Tuesday to set up a second round clash with Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza.
The 16-times Grand Slam champion, who has been slightly ill lately, was kept on his toes before racing to victory to set up a meeting with seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
With the French Open starting on Sunday, Murray has accrued 1,210 to the 4,915 of Rafael Nadal and looks a pale imitation of the player who won his last 24 matches of 2016 to knock Novak Djokovic off his pedestal and seize power in men's tennis.
Lucas Pouille was not prepared to say his pulsating four hour, fourth-round upset of 14-time grand slam winner Rafael Nadal at the US Open on Sunday was a career changing moment.
Spectators were on their feet cheering Leander Paes who in all probability is playing his last ATP event on Indian soil.
Stefanos Tsitsipas won 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 to book his place in the French Open final on Friday.
Leander Paes, named a reserve in India's Davis Cup team for the Uzbekistan tie, is in line to win his first title of the season, albeit on the Challenger Tour, with Canadian partner Adil Shamasdin.
World No 1 Rafael Nadal broke the stubborn resistance of Poland's Jerzy Janowicz's to win 7-5, 6-4 and reach the last eight of the Paris Masters on Thursday.
'Generally, I'm happy outside the court, happy on the court, happy in life. Then I think you play your best.'
The SABR may have also been the catalyst for the improvement in Roger Federer's backhand that was so instrumental in helping him to Australian Open victory at the start of this year, and looks set to spearhead his assault on Wimbledon.
World number one Novak Djokovic produced sublime form to clinch an unprecedented fifth men's title at Indian Wells with a 6-2, 6-0 demolition of big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in the men's final.
Tennis great Vijay Amritraj says there should be least controversy with regards to India's doubles combination in Davis Cup since the doubles match matters only when there are 'even singles matches'.
Raducanu stormed into the third round of the Cincinnati Open
Paula Badosa survived a stiff challenge from Victoria Azarenka in the Indian Wells final, while Cameron Norrie battled back to defeat Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Federer had his first hit on Thursday at the ATP 500 event at the German city of Halle, where he has won 10 titles.
Nadal, bidding for a record-extending 14th French Open title, won the first five games of the match as he looked on course to repeat his drubbing of the Serb in last year's final.
Federer said the rate of dropouts would fall if the slams switched to best-of-three-sets rather than best-of-five as it would mean matches were more like "a sprint to the finish line" rather than being "a marathon" but the people he really felt sorry for on Tuesday were the fans.
Unfazed by the early exit from ATP World Tour Finals, ace Indian tennis player Leander Paes on Saturday said he and his doubles partner Lukas Dlouhy had a fantastic year winning two Grand Slam titles and hoped to come back stronger next season.
Sixth seed Nick Kyrgios battered Gael Monfils 6-4 6-4 and David Goffin outlasted Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday to advance to the Japan Open final in Tokyo.
Gunning for yet another Grand Slam title, India's old war horse Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek have been seeded fifth at the Australian Open and they will open their campaign against Czech pair of Lukas Dlouhy and Lukas Rosol.
Defending champion Roger Federer overcame some dogged resistance by Spain's David Ferrer to reach the final of the ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday, winning 7-5, 6-3 at the O2 Arena.
India's top singles tennis player Somdev Devvarman has been handed a direct entry in the main draw of the ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament after Estonia's Jurgen Zopp pulled out of the event due to a back injury.
The decision by the 36-year-old Swiss, who was stunned in the final of last year's Rogers Cup in Montreal by German Alexander Zverev, comes less than two weeks after his quarter-final loss at Wimbledon.
Wozniacki battles past Kerber into Eastbourne final
Rafael Nadal rallied from a set down to ease past Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the Italian Open quarter-finals on Friday and set up a mouth-watering clash against long-time adversary Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday's final. Djokovic plotted a similar path to the Spanish clay-court king when the Serb lost the first set against Japan's Kei Nishikori before recovering to win 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 and seal an open-era record 51st career meeting against Nadal.
Rafael Nadal claimed a record-extending 10th Monte Carlo Masters title as he geared up for his beloved French Open with a 6-1, 6-3 victory against fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos on Sunday.
Cilic marches past Querrey into Queen's semis
Juan Martin del Potro believes he can muscle his way into the world's top four next year after returning to the kind of form that propelled him to the US Open title three years ago.
