Summary Novak Djokovic is to play at ATP tournament in Eastbourne in preparation for the Wimbledon.
LONDON (AFP) - Three-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic is to play at the ATP tournament in Eastbourne, southern England, in preparation for the grass-court Grand Slam, it was announced Wednesday.
It will be the first time the struggling Djokovic has played a grass-court event between the French Open and Wimbledon since 2010.
The 30-year-old Serb saw his French Open title defence come to a surprise halt with a straight sets quarter-final loss to the up-and-coming Dominic Thiem on the clay courts of Roland Garros in Paris this month.
Now, following what was his quickest exit from the French Open in seven years, 12-time Grand Slam champion is to play Eastbourne, which runs from June 23-July 1 after accepting a main draw wildcard.
"This will be my first trip to Eastbourne, I have heard great things about the tournament," said 12-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic in a statement. "I am looking forward to fine tuning my grass court game there ahead of Wimbledon."
World number four Djokovic comes into the event will be the tournament s top seed ahead of number two Gael Monfils and number three John Isner.
Originally a women s only event, Eastbourne has been expanded to include men s tennis as well and tournament director Gavin Fletcher said: "The quality of the men s and women s entries is already incredibly high, and the addition of Novak will take the event to an even higher level."
The WTA side of the tournament features seven of the world s top 10 female players including world number one Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova (number three), 2016 champion Dominika Cibulkova (number six), 2009 champion Caroline Wozniacki (number eight), and Britain s world number seven Johanna Konta.
