Wimbledon is near and tennis players are finishing their preparations for the great annual event on London grass. Most of them chose to play one of the official tournaments offered by the ATP calendar these weeks, but The three most followed players so far, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, have chosen an alternative path.
This is the Hurlingham exhibition tournament in Londonwhere they will play their only two matches before making their debut, on Monday 27th or Tuesday 28th July, in the third Grand Slam of the year.
Nadal, who arrived in London on Monday and exercised at Wimbledon facilities, a routine that will be repeated this Tuesday, will debut on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time) against Stan Wawrinkawhich he won in 19 of the 22 meetings where faces were seen.
This is the first time Nadal has played in the Hurlingham tournament since 2019, the year in which he reached the semifinals at Wimbledon.. This exhibition has served as a mainstay for Nadal in the past seasons before the third Grand Slam of the season and that is he has not played an official tournament on the grass, other than Wimbledon, since Queen’s 2015.
In addition to Wednesday’s match, Nadal will play again on Friday, starting at 3:30 pm, this time against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassimethat he led 2-0 head-to-head, but brought him to five sets, something only three men in history have achieved, last Roland Garros.
Alcaraz, for his part, will debut on Thursday (between 5 and 6 pm) against an unconfirmed rivaland on Saturday he will be seen with Casper Ruud.
Finally, Novak Djokovic will face Auger-Aliassime on Wednesdayafter Nadal-Wawrinka, and on Friday, also after Nadal’s fight, with a rival yet to be confirmed.
The Serbian trained on Monday at Wimbledon, stepping on the grass for the first time this season. The current tournament champion appeared at noon on the Aorangi court of the All England Club, where he trained with his coach Goran Ivanisevic, and his physio, Argentine Ulises Badio.
Djokovic has not officially played since he lost in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros against Rafa Nadal.
Djokovic’s last fight on the grass was a year ago, in the Wimbledon final against Matteo Berrettini.. The Serbian is picking his seventh Wimbledon, which will raise his Grand Slam tally to 21, one behind Nadal and one above Roger Federer. Belgrade has not failed London since 2018.
Source: La Verdad
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