Both Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner have chosen to skip the grass-court tour entirely before Wimbledon, except for just one event. Djokovic has been skipping grass events since 2018, but Sinner had opted to do so after suffering from health issues at the French Open. Though the two won’t be playing any tournament on the tour before the SW19, they have decided to sign up for an exhibition event instead.

Djokovic and Sinner will be headlining the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic. The event will be held from June 23 to 27 on the grass courts of the Hurlingham Club in London. While Djokovic will be taking on Karen Khachanov, Sinner will battle it out against Cameron Norrie in the first round. Both of these matches are scheduled for June 24.

The exhibition event has selected a pretty impressive lineup for its 32nd edition. Fans will be able to see some of the best players in action at the tournament, which concludes just two days before Wimbledon. For Djokovic and Sinner, this will be a great way to kickstart prepping for Wimbledon without the pressure of ranking points.

Aside from Djokovic and Sinner, the likes of Flavio Cobolli, Ben Shelton, Casper Ruud, Tommy Paul, Jiri Lehecka, and Stan Wawrinka will also be playing at the Hurlingham Club. The tournament will kick off with the clash between Learner Tien and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

The exhibition will also feature multiple tennis greats playing doubles. This includes the likes of Marcos Baghdatis, Mansour Bahrami, Michael Chang, Monica Puig, David Ferrer, Flavia Pennetta, and more.

Coming back, this tournament will provide some much-needed match practice for Djokovic and Sinner. Despite being an exhibition event, the two will be able to come up against high-ranked players, which will only help them in their preparations for Wimbledon. Both of them will be aiming to bounce back from their underwhelming French Open campaigns that came to an end last month.

Djokovic had suffered a shock defeat to Joao Fonseca in the third round of the Roland Garros. The Serb had comfortably been ahead by two sets at one stage but lost his composure in the third set as the young Brazilian mounted a terrific comeback. Fonseca dramatically won the match 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.

On the other hand, Sinner had suffered from a similar kind of capitulation in the second round against Juan Manuel Cerundolo. The Italian appeared to be cruising towards victory after he had won the first two sets and was leading 5-1 in the third. It was here that he started feeling dizzy all of a sudden, and he also seemed to be in discomfort.

Cerundolo capitalized on his opponent’s misfortune and won 15 points in a row to get back into the contest. He then made light work of Sinner in the final two sets to win the match 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1. This was the Italian’s first defeat in over three months and brought an end to his 30-match winning streak.

An early exit at the upcoming SW19 would see both Djokovic and Sinner lose a massive number of points in the rankings. While the former had reached the semis last season, the latter had gone on to clinch the title. Both of them have been training hard for the Grand Slam that is set to begin on June 29.

How are Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner preparing for Wimbledon?

Like the last few years, Djokovic has been having private training sessions ahead of Wimbledon. He had recently landed at the All England Club to continue his preparations for the tournament.

As he had his first practice session before the SW19, Djokovic also caught up with his good friend, Aryna Sabalenka. The two were seen having a brief conversation at Aorangi Park before getting back to their respective training sessions.

On the other hand, Sinner had initially started his preparations for Wimbledon in Monte Carlo. He practiced on the hard courts instead of diving straight into the grass. The Italian had arrived at the All England Club a few days ago and was seen having a joint training session with Arthur Fils.

However, Sinner’s fans were left worried when he was seen practicing with a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) sensor attached to his left arm. It is a device that is used to track glucose levels in the body and helps in showing how glucose levels change throughout the day.

It remains to be seen how Djokovic and Sinner will fare at the upcoming Wimbledon Championships.