Novak Djokovic defeated Tommy Paul, 6-3, 6-7 [7-5] at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic at the Hurlingham Club.
The Serb had been expected to play earlier in the week, but Djokovic withdrew hours before his exhibition match.
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Deciding against playing any of the official Wimbledon warm-up events, this was Djokovic’s first televised match of the grass-court season.
Paul and Djokovic may not have been going ‘all-out’ in the heat, but the Serb will certainly be pleased to secure the win ahead of his 21st Wimbledon campaign.
Novak Djokovic braves heat to beat Tommy Paul before Wimbledon
The seven-time Wimbledon champion was happy to brave the extreme heat in London, as he defeated the in-form Paul in a deciding tiebreaker.
His American opponent reached the final of last week’s Queen’s Club Championships and is being tipped by many to make a run at Wimbledon this year.
But Djokovic, playing his first grass-court match of the season, looked impressive against Paul, securing the win with a simple forehand.
You can’t draw too many conclusions from an exhibition win, but there didn’t look to be much wrong with Djokovic, as his serve held firm and he moved well from the baseline.
If he can do the same at Wimbledon next week when the pressure is on, who knows, he might just be in with a chance of winning Grand Slam number 25…
Who will Novak Djokovic play at Wimbledon?
Djokovic will play China’s Yibing Wu in the first round of Wimbledon.
Wu is ranked 91 places below Djokovic and has only won one of the four grass-court matches he has played this season.
With that in mind and considering that the Serb has never lost a first-round match at SW19, you’d be brave to bet against him advancing to round two.
There, he could meet a man he has beaten in two Grand Slam finals, Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Greek isn’t the player he once was, and even at his peak wasn’t a grass-court specialist, but could still cause Djokovic some problems if he finds some form at Wimbledon.
In the third round, he could play the Frenchman, Arthur Rinderknech, who stunned Alexander Zverev in the first round 12 months ago.
But it’s in the fourth round where things get interesting.
Djokovic could take on Andrey Rublev or Brazil’s Joao Fonseca.
The 39-year-old has history with Fonseca, in particular, having lost to the youngster from two sets to love up at the French Open earlier this year.
Djokovic could play Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals, before a potential blockbuster semi-final tie with Jannik Sinner.
It was the Italian who emerged victorious when they met at the same stage 12 months ago, although Djokovic did beat Sinner in Melbourne earlier this season.
The difference between now and then, though, is that the winner of their projected semi-final, would become a big favourite for the title.
With Carlos Alcaraz out of the picture, whoever reaches the final from the top half of the draw will be expected to take home the trophy.
That’s not to say the likes of Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, and Zverev can’t trouble Djokovic or Sinner, but they would certainly walk onto Centre Court as the underdog for a potential title showdown.
There is plenty to look forward to before then, though, and Djokovic will now prepare for his first-round match against the Chinese number one.
Djokovic will play Wu in the first round of Wimbledon on Monday, June 29.
