ROME -- Novak Djokovic says his right ankle is not bothering him anymore. The top-ranked player twisted his ankle while representing Serbia in the Davis Cup in April then appeared to hurt it again in a second-round loss to Grigor Dimitrov at the Madrid Open on Tuesday. "I feel better. The ankle is not bothering me anymore, which is great news," Djokovic said at the Italian Open on Sunday. "Im already slowly starting to release the protection from the ankle because I feel more and more stable on it. Theres no pain, which is great." Djokovic won the Italian Open in 2008 and 2011 and hes looking forward to a warm reception at the Foro Italico after the Madrid crowd turned against him in the loss to Dimitrov. "I love Italy. I also speak Italian so I feel like a local," Djokovic said. Against Dimitrov, Djokovic slipped on the baseline during the middle of the match and winced in pain. He then called for a trainer and took a lengthy break to get treatment. The wait for the match to resume annoyed the crowd, who turned against Djokovic and began chanting Dimitrovs name. Djokovic was surprised by the crowds reaction. "I won Madrid in 2011 and had nice support. I have a lot of friends in Spain. My brothers live in Spain. So I never had a problem with Spain or Spanish people. In contrary, I always enjoyed my visits there," he said. "This time it happened what happened and I forgot about it already. "I respect the choices of a crowd and who they support and I understand its not going to always be me," Djokovic added. "Thats normal. But what happened there is something unusual for me. I didnt experience that before, to be treated that way for no reason in my opinion. I move on and here I already feel more comfortable." Djokovic opened his clay-court season by winning the Monte Carlo Masters, winning the final in straight sets over Rafael Nadal to end the Spaniards run of eight consecutive titles in the principality. "Monte Carlo was the best possible clay-court season start. Madrid was different but still, as a professional you have to accept the losses and defeats. They are as important as the victories, actually. You learn something new from them," Djokovic said. "Its not the first time Im facing this type of situation in my career. Hopefully this tournament can be the lucky one for me then Ill focus my attention to Paris." Having won the Australian Open in January, Djokovic will chase the years second Grand Slam title at the French Open, which starts in two weeks. In Rome, a major clay-court warm-up for Roland Garros, Djokovic will open against either 30th-ranked Martin Klizan of Slovakia or a qualifier. In an eventual second match, he could face Stanislas Wawrinka, the Swiss player who lost to Nadal in the Madrid final Sunday. SWell Bottle Clearance . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Swell Bottle Elements Collection . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. http://www.swellbottlesclearance.com/ . Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens. During last nights game he tweeted: "Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to (minor-league) Hamilton for David Desharnais please. SWell Stone Collection Bottle . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. Cheap SWell Bottle . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . BROMONT, Quebec -- NHL referee Garrett Rank won his third straight Canadian Mens Mid-Amateur title Friday, closing with an 5-under 67 in windy conditions for a six-stroke victory.The 28-year-old Rank, from Elmira, Ontario, finished at 19-under 269 at Golf Chateau-Bromont. He earned a spot next year in the Canadian Open.Its always special winning a national championship and to win it three times in a row is a huge honour, Rank said. My goal for this week was to come here annd win and get back into the Canadian Open and I accomplished that.dddddddddddd. No matter the score, no matter what happened this week, Im really pleased with how it went. Im happy to be a national champion again and get the privilege of playing in the Open.Ryan Sevigny matched the course record with 64 to tie for second with Jordan Irwin (73). ' ' '
