Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov are reportedly planning to play an exhibition match in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Djokovic's schedule after the Olympic Games is becoming explicit. He has already committed to play at the Shanghai Masters for the first time in five years. He is not playing at the Canadian Open in Montreal this week but is penciled in to defend his titles in Cincinnati and at the US Open.
After the final Grand Slam of the season, which ends on September 8th, Djokovic will most likely take time away from the Tour to rest and recharge for the final lap of the year, which includes the Asian swing, a lucrative exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia, and the indoor season.
Djokovic has not played an ATP match in Sofia in the past, but the exhibition match will be part of his schedule. He will play the World No. 10 on Tuesday, September 17th, in the evening at Arena Sofia.
At the behest of his rival and friend Dimitrov, Djokovic is expected to join him at the event organized by the Bulgarian star's foundation. The details of this match were reported by Bulgarian New Agency on Tuesday, August 6th.
Djokovic has a phenomenal record against Dimitrov on the ATP Tour. They have played 13 times, with the Serbian leading head-to-head 12-1. The Bulgarian one-hander's solitary win came in 2013, in the infancy stage of their rivalry. He defeated the former World No. 1 in three sets in Madrid.
They played three times last year, with the most memorable of those matches being the Paris Masters final, in which Djokovic denied Dimitrov his second Masters 1000 title.
"The best Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov and the Olympic singles champion from the Paris Games Novak Djokovic will face each other in an exhibition match in Sofia, organized by the Grigor Dimitrov Foundation."
"Olympic champion Novak Djokovic will come Bulgaria at the invitation of Dimitrov, and viewers will be able to enjoy the great tennis show live on air on bTV Action, online on the Voyo video platform, as well as in btvsport.bg."
The news comes right after Djokovic sealed his first Olympic gold medal last weekend when he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets in the final in Paris. It was the title he wanted to win the most this season, and at the fifth time of asking, he was successful.
Djokovic overcame his longtime rival and 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and clay threats Stefanos Tsitsipas and Lorenzo Musetti en route to the title match. There, he produced some nifty footwork and baseline discipline to beat an opponent who was 16 years his junior.
The win was historic. Djokovic did not drop a set to win the gold medal, something that no man had done before. And at 37, he is also the oldest Olympic tennis champion.
Djokovic had an opportunity to regain the world number one ranking this week, but he understandably withdrew from the Canadian Open in Montreal. The earliest he will return to action will be in Cincinnati.
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