Novak Djokovic (11/2 Men’s Australian Open 2010 – Outright) assured his followers he will be ready for the Australian Open, starting on January, in reaction to his shock 6-1 6-2 defeat by Fernando Verdasco at the Kooyong Classic.

The Serb, seeded three for the opening grand slam of 2010 at Melbourne Park, insisted he was not fazed by his straight-sets drubbing by the world number nine (50/1 Men’s Australian Open 2010 – Outright) and stressed he will be in top condition for his opener against Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain.

“The results don’t really matter,” Djokovic said.

“The main point of my participation here is to get a good practice, get some points and games before the Australian Open, which is of course my main priority.”

The world number three, the 2008 Australian Open champion, said he was ready to face the sweltering heat of Melbourne and the conditions, such as exhaustion and soreness, that forced him to retire in the quarter-finals against former world number one Andy Roddick when attempting to retain his trophy last year.

“I’ve been working hard physically, especially putting a priority on that to get stronger and get a good endurance in order to play these five-set matches,” he said.

“That’s what the grand slams are all about, especially here in Australia with the heat, so I feel quite good about that.”

If Andy Murray wins the Australian Open, Totesport will refund all losing outright bets. Applies to losing Australian Open Mens Outright bets from 9.30am Tuesday 12 January up until the start of the tournament. Maximum refund is £1000 per customer.