Rafael Nadal vs Felix Auger-Aliassime LIVE: Tennis result from Hurlingham Club as Nadal loses

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic both kickstarted their Wimbledon preparations with easy exhibition wins at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic.

Nadal showed no ill-effects after nerve treatment on the chronic foot problem that troubled him during his French Open triumph earlier this month as he beat Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3 at the Hurlingham Club in London.

Djokovic, in his first match since losing to Nadal in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, won 6-2 6-1 against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Nadal, in his first match on grass since 2019, raced into a 5-1 lead after twice breaking Wawrinka’s serve in the opening set and sealed it 6-2 in 30 minutes.

R1: Cerundolo

R2: Querrey

R3: Sonego (27)

R4: Cilic (14)

QF: Auger-Aliassime (6)

SF: Tsitsipas (4) / Berrettini (8)

F: Djokovic (1)

Rafael Nadal will begin his Wimbledon bid against Francisco Cerundolo while on the other half of the draw, top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic will open his quest for a seventh Wimbledon title against Soonwoo Kwon on centre court.

Nadal, who is aiming for a sensational calendar grand slam after winning the Australian Open and French Open titles this season, faces the tougher half of the draw with last year’s finalist Matteo Berrettini also in his section, along with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Djokovic could face Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals with Murray also being drawn in that quarter of the bracket. Murray could go on to face either Jannik Sinner or Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round, with Alcaraz a potential opponent in the last 16.

Full draw report:

Good afternoon and welcome to today’s live coverage of the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic as Rafael Nadal faces Felix Auger-Aliassime in an exhibition match as the 22-time grand slam champion steps up his Wimbledon preparations. Nadal will take to the court in west London just hours after the main draw for the Championships was made at the All England Club. The Spaniard, who is seeded second for the tournament, was put in the bottom half of the draw and faces Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in the opening round.

Nadal returned to grass for the first time in three years on Wednesday as he took down Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3. The 37-year-old looked sharp in dismissing the three-time grand slam champion Wawrinka and showed no signs of the foot problems that put his participation at Wimbledon in doubt. Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, will look to improve after he was thrashed by Novak Djokovic in the other match of the day. Nadal was pushed to five sets by Auger-Aliassime in their last meeting at the French Open last month.