Novak Djokovic started his preparation for the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at the Hurlingham Classic, and he smashed Felix Auger-Aliassime easily in their match.
Djokovic traditionally doesn’t really prepare for Wimbledon extensively anymore. Having won the event six times so far puts him among some of the best grass players of all time, and as such, he doesn’t really need as much preparation.
As it’s been the case for a couple of years now, he just plays a couple of exhibition events before it, most notably in Hurlingham, which is where he elected to play this year as well.
His first match there happened to be against Auger-Aliassime, who is a capable opponent on grass. As with anything related to the Canadian, it depends on the day, but he possesses a skillset that can do some damage on the grass courts.
He wasn’t able to do much damage against Djokovic, though, as the Serbian won about as easily as he could. The first set was a simple and straightforward affair for the Serbian, who won it 6-2.
He demonstrated how dominant he can be on the grass by smashing Auger-Aliassime even more in the second set, 6-1, to win the match comfortably.
It was a similar victory to that of Rafael Nadal, who bested Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3 in the match before Djokovic stepped out in Hurlingham, demonstrating that both legends are looking really strong heading into Wimbledon.
Djokovic is widely considered the favorite to win the event, even though Nadal could challenge for the trophy as well. He’s never been the best on the grass, but after winning the Australian Open and the French Open, it’s not impossible for him to produce another vintage performance.
A matchup between them would be a proper tennis classic for sure, but there are a couple of more days to live through before that becomes a possibility. Their form, though, makes it likely.