With Wimbledon just days away, Novak Djokovic enjoyed his annual outing at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic to play his only warm-up match ahead of the tournament. It’s become something of a tradition for the 24-time Grand Slam champion to head to the prestigious Hurlingham Club for an exhibition match to fine-tune his game.
He did just that against Karen Khachanov on a sunny Friday afternoon, hours after learning his fate in the Wimbledon draw, where he has landed in Jack Draper’s quarter, and I was in the crowd to see how he got on during his 7-6(4) 6-4 straight-set defeat.
Players, especially experienced champions like Djokovic, often hold back at exhibitions and save their best tennis for when it really counts. With his opening match at SW19 four days away, Djokovic didn’t want to exert himself too much in the pre-tournament knockabout and knew when it wasn’t worth chasing down a ball.
But for his only match going into the tournament, even if he was taking it easy, he will be keen to eliminate some of the errors and cheap points he gave away. And this gives him a reference point to get back to work on the practice court.
The world No. 6 was still in a cheery mood, laughing when he sent an easy overhead into the net during the fifth game.
After playing a tight practice set with Carlos Alcaraz on Wimbledon’s Centre Court yesterday, which finished 5-5, it was another close affair at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic, with the only break coming in the final game of the match.
Khachanov struggled more in his service games than Djokovic did, but the Serb couldn’t take any of his break point opportunities in the match. He blew a set point in the opener at 5-4, failing to get a return back in play.
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In the first set tiebreak, Khachanov got the mini-break with a perfectly placed drop shot that Djokovic couldn’t reach, and the Russian quickly wrapped up the set.
Djokovic might have been frustrated with some of his double faults and errors in a tour match. But the 37-year-old knows exactly how to work the crowd at events like this – he bantered with Khachanov over the net, then pumped his fist and swaggered to the back of the court after winning an impressive point early in the second set.
The world No. 19 saved break points and survived a marathon game at 2-2 in the second set to pull ahead, as both men seemed to be stepping it up and testing themselves.
As Djokovic served to stay in the match at 4-5, it felt as though he had enough match time under his belt and was happy to let it go. Facing three match points, he failed to get a Khachanov return back into play, and the Russian sealed victory.
Afterwards, the second-time Wimbledon winner said: “It’s very good to be back on grass. I’ve obviously had a thrilling journey in my career on this surface, particularly in Wimbledon.
“It’s good to get a match, hear your score called from the chair umpire, obviously being in an environment where it kind of resembles an official match, it’s good. I haven’t played an official tournament in the lead-up to Wimbledon.”
When Djokovic does begin his campaign for a record 25th Grand Slam title next week, there’s no doubt that he will bring a much higher level to the court than he did today. And he will need to if he wants to compete with the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Luckily, at Wimbledon, he should be able to outlast players over five sets and will be able to play his way into the tournament, likely peaking late in the second week. At least now he has a match under his belt and knows what he needs to change before next week.
And one thing is for sure, Djokovic is in a much better position going into Wimbledon this year compared to 2024, when he had knee surgery weeks before the tournament.