Nadal to prepare for Wimbledon at Hurlingham event

Rafa Nadal will warm up for next month's Wimbledon Championships by playing two exhibition matches at the Aspall Tennis Classic in Hurlingham this week.

The Spaniard, who reclaimed the top spot in the ATP rankings after Roger Federer lost to Borna Coric in the Halle Open final on Sunday, withdrew from the Queen's Club event earlier this month to recover after winning his 11th French Open title.

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Video: Roger Federer Vs Jack Sock - Match for Africa 5 2018 Highlights

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From his knees at the middle of the net, Roger Federer struck volley after volley right back at Jack Sock until the American star finally faltered. Federer just smiled. It was all in fun.

And how could Federer not be loving life?

He's the best in the world at age 36. That even sounds a bit strange to Federer himself.

"Those are definitely special times in my life and my career," Federer said. "The dream as a little boy was to make it one day to world No. 1, but not at 36 years old I can tell you that. It was probably at some point at 25 maybe if things went really well.

Nadal to make Australian return in exhibition event

Rafa Nadal, who is struggling to get any match practice before the Australian Open, will play an exhibition event at Melbourne Park in the week leading up to the season opening grand slam, organizers said on Monday.

Rafa has not played since he withdrew from the season-ending World Tour Finals in London in November with a knee injury.

He had already withdrawn from an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, this week's Brisbane International and another event in Sydney, citing a lack of time to properly prepare.

Anderson wins Abu Dhabi exhibition event

Kevin Anderson won the 10th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, joining a roll of honour that includes Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray as its only previous winners.

The South African world number 14 was in imperious form once again, beating Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) in the final.

Anderson played three matches in the six-man exhibition tournament and won all of them in straight sets, including wins against two players ranked higher than him –- world number five Dominic Thiem and number 10 Pablo Carreno Busta.

Nadal out of season-opening Abu Dhabi event

Rafa Nadal has withdrawn from next week's season-opening exhibition event in Abu Dhabi due to ongoing fitness problems, the world number one has said.

The 16-time grand slam champion, who won the French and U.S. Opens earlier this year, withdrew from the ATP Finals in November after struggling with a knee injury during his round-robin defeat by Belgian David Goffin.

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Alexander Zverev made a trip to Milan to take part in an exhibition match against Stefanos Tsitsipas before the start of the Next Gen ATP Finals.




Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP World Tour.

Roger Federer Plays in Kilt During Exhibition in Scotland

Roger Federe played an exhibition match against Andy Murray in Glasgow.

Both players had good reason to be in a jovial mood; Federer won two majors on the year, and the match was Murray's first public outing since he suffered a hip injury at Wimbledon.

Video: Roger Federer vs Andy Murray - Exhibition Highlights Scotland

Roger Federer, the man who might become the first-ever person to defeat Father Time, played an exhibition match vs. Andy Murray in Glasgow, Scotland on Tuesday.

Murray pulls out of Hurlingham exhibition match

Andy Murray has pulled out of a second pre-Wimbledon exhibition match at London's Hurlingham Club on Friday due to a sore hip.

Wimbledon starts on Monday and the reigning champion had added the matches to his schedule to gain grasscourt practice after a surprising first-round exit from last week's Aegon Championships at Queen's Club.

Photos: Rafa Nadal at Hurlingham 2017 tennis exhibition

Enjoy some photos of Rafa Nadal playing against Tomas Berdych at the Aspall Tennis Classic tennis exhibition...

Rafael Nadal loses to Tomas Berdych in Hurlingham 2017 exhibition match

Rafael Nadal , who has not played a tournament on grass since 2015, lost to Tomas Berdych with a 6-3, 6-2 The Aspall Tennis Classic at The Hurlingham Club.

Nadal is set to face Tommy Haas on Friday.

"The Aspall Tennis Classic at The Hurlingham Club is a lot of fun and it’s always exciting to play in front of the UK fans, so I can’t wait to return this week", said Nadal through a statement before his match.

"I’m working hard and enjoying every week as it comes, so this is the perfect way to get ready for Wimbledon." He added.

Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

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Enjoy Highlights from the fast and the furious Fast4 match between Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios.

Photos: Rafa Nadal at Fast4tennis Exhibition

Check out some photos of Rafael Nadal during the Fast4 International Exhibition match where he played against Nick Kyrgios and lost.

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David Goffin (BEL) d. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 63 75

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Last Monday, Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfils, Lleyton Hewitt, Nick Kyrgios, Mats Wilander and Pat Cash were part of the Fast4 Tennis exhibition in Sydney ...

Video: Rafael Nadal vs David Ferrer Highlights Abu Dhabi Exhibition 2016

Enjoy some tennis hihlights from Rafa Nadal's win over David Ferrer in Abu Dhabi.

Nadal to headline Fast4 exhibition in Sydney

Rafael Nadal will headline a Fast4 exhibition in Sydney starting January 11th.

The former world number 1 will be joining Gael Monfils, Lleyton Hewitt and Nick Kyrgios.

The expanded event, which follows last year's launch featuring Hewitt and Roger Federer, has an experimental format with sets won by the first player to four games, no deuces and play continuing after lets on serve.

"It's easy for the crowd to get involved in every point which makes for a great atmosphere," Nadal said.

The format has been piloted at clubs across Australia and is being billed as the tennis equivalent of Twenty20, the short form of cricket which has proved a commercial hit.

Nadal, Monfils and John McEnroe will form a world team while Hewitt, Kyrgios and Pat Cash will represent Australia.