Novak Djokovic reveals his pre-Wimbledon warm-up plans with high profile rival
Novak Djokovic opted against playing any ATP tournaments ahead of his defence of the Wimbledon title, but he will play a grass court warm-up event before starting his latest challenge at the All England Club.
The world No 2 has confirmed he will take part in the Hurlingham exhibition event on London, where Andy Murray will also be playing this week.
Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune are also preparing to play at the plush exhibition event, which is sponsored by Giorgio Armani.
Djokovic has already landed in the UK and has been to Wimbledon to start his countdown to The Championships, where he will play the opening match next Monday.
He will play at the Hurlingham event this Thursday, joining a star-studded line-up at the event that doesn’t have ranking points.
Andy Murray, who will face the Danish contender and World No.6, Holger Rune, joins the line-up alongside the new World No 1 and Queen’s Club champion Carlos Alcaraz, World No 2 and 2023 French Open champion Novak Djokovic, 2023 French Open finalist Casper Ruud and British No 1 Cameron Norrie.
The event is returning to the stunning grounds of the Hurlingham Club in London between 27th June – 1st July, where the world’s top tennis players will show off their world class skills on the grass courts, as they get in some last-minute practice before Wimbledon.
To kick off the tournament, Cameron Norrie will face Frances Tiafoe for the first time since their match at the quarter-final of Indian Wells, where Tiafoe dispatched Norrie in straight sets. Tiafoe’s winning run on grass has led to his recent ranking of World No. 10 and fans can expect another exciting match between the two competitors.
On Thursday, fans can look forward to watching the Djokovic play against Tiafoe. The last time the two played was on British soil at the Laver Cup in 2022, with Djokovic coming out on top with a 6-1, 6-3 victory
Each singles match will be best of three sets with a champion’s tie break (first to 10) at 1-1 in sets, while the doubles matches will be one pro set, first to 8, tiebreak at 7-7.
ATP Players Playing at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic include:
Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) – World No 1 in singles
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) – World No 2 in singles
Casper Ruud (Norway) – World No 4 in singles
Holger Rune (Denmark) – World No 6 in singles
Frances Tiafoe (USA) – World No 10 in singles
Cameron Norrie (Great Britain) – World No 13 in singles
Alexander Zverev (Germany) – World No 22 in singles
Jiri Lehecka (Czech) – World No 36 in singles
Andy Murray (Great Britain) – World No 39 in singles
Luca Van Assche (France) – World No 75 in singles
Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) – World No 86 in singles
Dominic Thiem (Austria) – World No 89 in singles
In addition to the ATP players, tennis legends also confirmed to play include crowd favourite Mansour Bahrami, Davis Cup winner Mark Philippoussis, 2006 Australian Open semi-finalist Marcos Baghdatis, and ‘X-Man’ Xavier Malisse.
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic and nine other players to watch at Wimbledon
