The Boodles Tennis 2015: Thursday Scores, Results, Updated Draw Schedule
Novak Djokovic started his preparations for the upcoming Wimbledon tournament with a win over Richard Gasquet at The Boodles 2015—the Serb's first match on grass after an excellent run during the clay season.
The World No. 1 beat Gasquet in a 10-point tiebreak after splitting the first two sets, and while Djokovic showed some rust, his performance on Thursday looked promising with an eye on Wimbledon.
The Boodles is an exhibition-style tournament held in Buckinghamshire, England, and Djokovic seemed to be more interested in having fun than actually winning. He set the tone by arriving in a helicopter, per the event's official Twitter account:
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Here are the results from Thursday's matches:
| Robin Haase | 6-4, 7-5 | Richard Gasquet |
| Novak Djokovic | 6-4, 6-7 (6), 10-8 | Fabio Fognini |
| John Isner | 6-4, 6-4 | Thanasi Kokkinakis |
| Fernando Verdasco | 6-7 (4), 6-2, 11-9 | Tommy Robredo |
The Boodles has yet to announce the schedule for Friday's action, but an update will be provided once it's revealed. According to the event's official website, Rafael Nadal has been added to the lineup, and he's expected to make an appearance on Friday.
Recap
Unlike most of his main rivals for Wimbledon, Djokovic took some time off after Roland Garros and hasn't played in any of the major grass tournaments that have taken place throughout June. The Boodles, a series of exhibition matches that almost resemble a training session, gives the Serb the perfect opportunity to adapt to the surface against high-quality competition.
The Djoker took to Twitter to confirm he hasn't been training on grass while others have been competing in Halle and England:
Gasquet certainly gave Djokovic a tough battle on Thursday, running out to a 5-2 lead in the final tiebreak before the Serb turned things around. The final scores were 6-4, 6-7 (6), 10-8. But as shared by tennis writer Craig O'Shannessy, the Djoker didn't take his first match at Stoke Park all that seriously:
Djokovic's attacking form looked just fine after some time away from the court, but he did show signs of rust. The Serb looked a step slow all afternoon, giving Gasquet far too many open spaces to target with his winners.
From the baseline, Djokovic looked as dominant as one would expect, but he did hit a lot of unforced errors—particularly on his backhand. Gasquet's tennis looked a lot cleaner, and per O'Shannessy, it made for a highly entertaining match:
The high-quality tennis wasn't the only entertainment on offer, mind you. As shared by For The Win, Djokovic took off his shirt and tossed it to a fan during the match, posed for photo's with the English hockey team and was in an entertaining mood all match long:
To watch the entire match, visit The Boodles' official YouTube account by clicking here.
In the other matches, last year's champion Robin Haase beat Fabio Fognini in two sets, while John Isner showed his fine form on grass with a win over young talent Thanasi Kokkinakis. Fernando Verdasco beat Tommy Robredo in an all-Spanish match to end the day.
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