Djokovic hopes to continue impressive run

　　CINCINNATI (TICKER) -- Novak Djokovic emerged as a legitimate threat to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal last weekend. As the U.S. Open draws closer, Djokovic hopes to continue his pursuit of tennis' top two players.

　　Fresh off his stunning victory in Montreal this past weekend, Djokovic looks to keep rolling this week at the $2.45 million Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.

　　The 20-year-old Djokovic is seeded fourth in this ATP Masters Series hardcourt event and figures to be one of the favorites to unseat Federer at the U.S. Open, which starts on August 27.

　　A native of Serbia, Djokovic completed a thrilling weekend in Montreal by beating Federer on Sunday in the final of the Rogers Cup. The upset victory came one day after Djokovic ousted Nadal in the semifinals of the hardcourt tournament.

　　"Probably next to Miami, this was the best tournament of my career," said Djokovic, who also beat world No. 3 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. "I can say that this was an even bigger success because I managed to beat (the) top three players in the world in the last three rounds."

　　Thanks to his dominant run at Montreal, Djokovic has climbed to third in the ATP rankings, one spot ahead of Roddick and one behind Nadal. He hopes to continue that ascent here at Cincinnati, where he has failed to advance beyond the second round in two career appearances.

　　Djokovic, along with the other top eight seeds in this tourney, received a first-round bye and will face Spain's Carlos Moya, who defeated Argentine David Nalbandian, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2).

　　The world No. 1 and 2005 champion of this event, Federer is seeded first and will take on Frenchman Julien Benneteau or Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the second round.

　　The reigning champion of the U.S. Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon, Federer was ousted by rising British star Andy Murray in the second round of this tournament last season.

　　Nadal is seeded second while Roddick, who won this event last season, received the third seed.

　　Monday's schedule has 12 first-round matches, including four featuring seeded players.

　　Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic, who is seeded 11th, defeated American qualifier Amer Delic, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 while Russian Mikhail Youzhny, the tournament's 12th seed, downed Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty, 6-3, 6-1.

　　In night matches, the Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych, seeded 10th, topped German Benjamin Becker, 6-3, 6-4, and Spain's David Ferrer, the 16th seed, defeated American John Isner, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

　　First prize is $400,000.