Novak Djokovic to play Boodles Tennis Challenge ahead of Wimbledon
Held at Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire, the Boodles Tennis Challenge had kicked off in 2002, always gathering a strong field of players in their last preparation ahead of Wimbledon. The 18th edition will take place between June 25-29 and it should bring more exciting and entertaining clashes, with Stefanos Tsitsipas, Karen Khachanov, Fabio Fognini, Roberto Bautista Agut, Denis Shapovalov, Cristian Garin, Filip Krajinovic, Tomas Berdych and others. Juan Martin del Potro was forced to withdraw after a knee injury he suffered at Queen's and the organizers have found a perfect replacement, with world no. 1 Novak Djokovic who is making a return to Stoke Park for the first time since 2016!
The reigning Wimbledon champion has decided to skip Queen's or Halle and not play anything official before Wimbledon, training with Janko Tipsarevic, Filip Krajinovic and Ricardas Berankis at Janko Tipsarevic Academy on hard court in Belgrade. Novak will play the Boodles Tennis Challenge on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th, making a trip to London after that for the last preparations ahead of the third Grand Slam of the season where he has to defend the title and 2000 points.
With the lead he had carried from 2018, Novak Djokovic is still the player to beat this year, lifting crowns at the Australian Open and Madrid, with the final run in Rome and the semi-final at Roland Garros where Dominic Thiem toppled him in five sets. Back in 2012, Djokovic had the opportunity to play against Andy Murray at Boodles, beating Grigor Dimitrov a year later and withdrawing from the event in 2014. Four years ago, the Serb had battled against Richard Gasquet and Alexander Zverev, losing to David Goffin in 2016 and skipping the tournament in 2017 and 2018.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2FmC6dw
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