Novak Djokovic’s right elbow is pain-free for the first time in years.

The Serbian, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, said he’s played without pain for the past “two days”. The former World No. 1 has been bothered by discomfort in his right elbow for the past two years. The injury led Djokovic to take off the final four months of the 2017 season, and he underwent surgery on the elbow in February.

“The last few days have been the first days in long, long time that I could actually focus on the game rather than have something in my mind always worried whether I’m going to have pain or not, and usually it happened,” Djokovic said on Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference at the Miami Open presented by Itau. “It’s quite refreshing because everything else was pain involved.”

The Serbian has played only five matches this season (3-2), a strong contrast from years past when he arrived at the season’s second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. Five previous times Djokovic had landed in South Florida chasing the “Sunshine Double”, and he pulled off the March sweep a record four times.

There will be no “Sunshine Double” for Djokovic this year. The Serbian lost to Japan’s Taro Daniel in the second round at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

But the 30-year-old still has a chance at history. The six-time champion (2007, 2011, 2012, 2014-’16) is tied with coach Andre Agassi for the all-time titles lead. Djokovic is also tied with Rafael Nadal for the all-time Masters 1000 titles lead at 30. This is the 32^nd and final year the tournament will be held at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne before relocating to Hard Rock Stadium next year.

“This year is a special year for this tournament because it’s the last year on Key Biscayne. So we’re going to all try to enjoy it, and take the best out of it,” Djokovic said.

“For me, obviously approaching the tournament this year is quite different than any other year because of what I’ve been through with my elbow and everything. I don’t have expectations really.”

The Serbian said he’s not thinking about how he’d perform against Roger Federer, his rival who has reclaimed No. 1 in the ATP Rankings and reached the BNP Paribas Open final on Sunday (l. to Del Potro). For now, Djokovic is focused on simpler things, such as playing at 100 per cent again.

“I’m not yet at my best but I’m working to get there. Every day is a process for me and is an opportunity to learn, to grow, to get better. Obviously the two years of an injury and trying to figure out ways how to play pain-free, which I wasn’t able to a lot of times in the last couple years, were compromising my game,” Djokovic said.

“Right now I’m not playing with the pain, which is the most important thing, and I can actually start focusing on the game rather than thinking about whether the pain is going to reappear or not.”

Only Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal stand above him in the ATP Rankings, but for Marin Cilic, being the World No. 3 is not enough. With 17 ATP World Tour titles, including the 2014 US Open, the Croatian makes no secret of what he wants this season.

He starts his 10^th Miami Open presented by Itau campaign as the No. 2 seed and will face either #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz or Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert after a first-round bye. In the tournament’s last year at its Key Biscayne site, Cilic would love nothing more than a deep run on the hard courts where big points are on offer after losing his opening match here last year (l. to Chardy).

“The conditions here are always very difficult, maybe one of the most difficult conditions we have on tour,” said Cilic, whose lone quarter-final in Miami came in 2013 (l. to Murray), when he defeated John Isner and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga en route.

“You can get the heat, the humidity, those cooler nights so you have to be ready for everything. It’s also the end of the hard-court season that we are approaching so that’s also a part of my motivation to do quite well.”

Cilic appeared in his eighth season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in November and finished the season at No. 6 in the ATP Rankings. After failing to win a match at the group stage, he returned to Australia inspired and he delivered.

“I started great this season, opened it the best ever with the final at the Australian Open,” he said of his five-set defeat to defending champion Federer in the decider. “That perspective just gives my mind a good and stable strategy for moving forward in 2018. I didn’t finish 2017 the way I wanted.

“Obviously I finished at No. 6, which is still amazing, second year in a row. But still I want to push myself to be improving and getting better and obviously that means getting higher in the rankings. Hopefully this season can give me a lot of great results and hopefully another Grand Slam title as well.”

Two Grand Slam finals in six months gave the 29-year-old the cause to believe bigger things were still to come in 2018. “I don’t put myself under pressure every time. I’m trying to improve as much as I can,” he said.

“Things need to click as well to win a Grand Slam… But it’s nothing urgent. I’m definitely enjoying where I am at the moment and hopefully with my improvements and good results that’s going to happen.”

Novak Djokovic has captivated audiences throughout the world for years, including in Miami, where the Serbian has won a record-tying six titles and claimed 30 of his past 31 matches. But the 30-year-old earned the attention of a much different audience on Monday in Florida.

Djokovic, a father of two, visited the Miami Children’s Museum on Monday ahead of the Miami Open presented by Itau to read a book titled Pete the Cat to about 50 children of different age groups in a packed auditorium. He even brought his three-year-old son Stefan along for the session.

^{Photo Credit: Peter Staples/Miami Open presented by Itau}
“They were kind enough to invite me… and it was a wonderful experience. They were all great listeners, but they also participated. They interacted,” said Djokovic, the ATP World Tour’s 2012 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year. “I also invited one little girl to join me and read the rest of the story with me. It was phenomenal. It has brought a lot of really beautiful memories to me from the time when I was part of the pre-school educational institutions and programs back in my country when I was growing up.”

It was an important trip for Djokovic, who founded the Novak Djokovic Foundation in November 2007 to focus on providing young underprivileged children the opportunity to receive a quality pre-school education. The foundation received a €10,000 grant from ATP ACES For Charity in 2013.

The Miami Children’s Museum (@Michimu) received a special visit from @DjokerNole on Monday! pic.twitter.com/8pnHFYjSWN

— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 20, 2018

“We are giving them a chance to flourish, to know the joy of success,” the foundation’s website reads. “To believe that they are worthy of their dreams. Early childhood education is the foundation upon which they will stand for the rest of their lives, and the foundation for the future of our world.”

View Djokovic’s Charity Profile

While the former World No. 1’s focus will now shift to the second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the season, he does not take these special visits for granted.

“Obviously, being a child is something that every adult should always remind themselves of or think of, to keep that inner child, so to say, active and joyful throughout your life because we all shouldn’t take life too seriously and children remind us of that and remind us of what it is to be curious and to be happy to live in the present moment,” Djokovic said. “It was just overall a great experience that I’ll remember.”

With the Top 32 seeds receiving a bye, the focus is on a host of first-round clashes at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Taylor Fritz vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert
A string of recent deep runs on U.S. hard courts has #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz primed for his third appearance at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The 20-year-old, back up to No. 71 in the ATP Rankings, fell in a nail-biting three-setter last week to Borna Coric in the fourth round in Indian Wells, having saved match point against good friend Reilly Opelka before registering wins over #NextGenATP Russian Andrey Rublev and Fernando Verdasco. He reached the quarter-finals in Delray Beach (l. to Shapovalov) and has compiled a 14-3 record on the ATP Challenger Tour this season. This will be his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with World No. 81 Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The 27-year-old Frenchman opened his season with a quarter-final appearance at the Tata Open Maharashtra in India and like Fritz, he also reached the fourth round in Indian Wells last week (l. to. Kohlschreiber). Second seed Marin Cilic will face the winner in round two.

VIEW DRAW 

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Daniil Medvedev 
Dominic Thiem needed three sets to win the battle of the single-handed backhands when he met #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round in Indian Wells leading in. Now Tsitsipas, No. 70 in the ATP Rankings, takes on 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Daniil Medvedev for the first time in the pair’s Miami debut. The 19-year-old Greek reached the quarter-finals in Doha to open his season (l. to Thiem). Earlier this month, he beat No. 6 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber en route to the quarter-finals in Dubai. Medvedev, the World No. 52, started the season emphatically, as he won seven matches in a row to land his first ATP World Tour title in Sydney (d. De Minaur) as a 21-year-old qualifier. He also won through qualifying before reaching the quarter-finals in Rotterdam. The winner will face No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev. 

Denis Shapovalov vs. Viktor Troicki
Another #NextGenATP player making his Miami debut will be 18-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov. The World No. 46 has a 9-7 start to the season with his best result being a semi-final run at the Delray Beach Open (l. to eventual champion Tiafoe). Three of his defeats this season have come against Top 15 opponents. Troicki, No. 68 in the ATP Rankings, won the pair’s only prior FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter in Shanghai last year in three sets. The Serbian won his sixth straight victory in a five-set match at the Australian Open to start his year (d. Bolt, l. to Kyrgios in 2R). He subsequently reached the quarter-finals in Sofia. The winner will face No. 24 seed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia in the second round.

Jared Donaldson vs. Marcos Baghdatis
After his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final appearance on hard court in Acapulco earlier this month, 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Jared Donaldson arrived in Indian Wells at a career high of No. 48 in the ATP Rankings (l. to Bautista Agut in 2R). The 21-year-old American won through qualifying in each of the past two years to reach the Miami main draw. Last year he went on to reach the fourth round before he fell to countryman Jack Sock. He has never faced experienced Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, a former No. 8 in the ATP Rankings. The 32-year-old Baghdatis has surged back into the Top 100 (No. 82) after winning five straight matches as a qualifier before handing Milos Raonic a walkover in the fourth round in Indian Wells. Last month he reached the quarter-finals in Sofia (l. to Kovalik). No. 25 seed Feliciano Lopez awaits the winner.

Ivo Karlovic vs. Vasek Pospisil
One thing is for certain when 39-year-old Ivo Karlovic and 27-year-old Vasek Pospisil square off in the opening round in Miami – aces will be plentiful from both. Canadian World No. 77 Pospisil leads the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head ledger 3-1, winning their past three encounters on hard courts in straight sets. Karlovic, the veteran Croatian, won his 350th ATP World Tour main draw match (d. Donaldson) at the New York Open where he reached his first quarter-final of the season (l. to Querrey). In the second round of this year’s Australian Open, he hit 53 aces to beat Yuichi Sugita 12-10 in the fifth before going on to hit another 52 aces in a five-set third-round defeat to Andreas Seppi. Both Karlovic (l. to Marterer) and Pospisil (qualified, l. to Auger Aliassime) fell in the opening round in Indian Wells. A victory will book a second-round meeting with #NextGenATP Russian 27th seed Rublev.