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Djokovic and Wawrinka also hit together on Thursday
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will be aiming to capture his third Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title this week when he returns to the Tour in Monaco.

However, before the serious business starts on Sunday, the top seed joined former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in the Casino Square, where the pair competed in an entertaining mini-match in front of an excitable crowd.

Djokovic and Wawrinka hit trick shots, posed for photos and chatted with each other as they delighted the fans in Monte-Carlo with their array of skills.

<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/stan ... view'>Stan Wawrinka</a>/<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/nova ... iew'>Novak Djokovic</a>
Photo Credit: Stephane Danna/Monte-Carlo

The singles stars arrived at the Monte-Carlo Country Club earlier this week and trained together on Thursday on Court Rainier III ahead of the third ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season.

Djokovic lifted the trophy on the clay in Monte-Carlo in 2013 and 2015 and is competing in just his second event of the season here after reaching the quarter-finals in Dubai in February.

Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Wawrinka arrives at the clay-court tournament having not played at a tour-level event since last March due to injury. The former World No. 3 triumphed in Monte-Carlo in 2014 and accepted a wild card into the draw.

Djokovic will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Marcos Giron in his first match and could meet #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in a blockbuster quarter-final clash. Wawrinka is in the bottom quarter of the draw and will open against Alexander Bublik.

Top seed lifted the trophy in Monte Carlo in 2013 and 2015
Top seed Novak Djokovic feels that he is fully motivated and ready to test himself against the world's best players once again as he prepares to play at his second tour-level event of the season at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters this week.

“I still feel motivated to be on the Tour and compete with young guys and try to challenge the best players in the world for the biggest titles,” Djokovic said in his pre-tournament press conference.

“I'm very pleased to be here and Monaco has been home for over ten years. I have been eagerly waiting for the moment when I will be out competing again, so this is the best place where I could possibly start.”

The Serbian will begin his clay-court campaign against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and is hoping he can take confidence from his strong results on the surface in 2021, when he clinched titles at Roland Garros and the Belgrade Open and advanced to the final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

“Clay court is the surface on which I grew up in Serbia and played many years only on that surface actually. Historically it hasn't been my most successful surface, but I have had some big success on clay. [The] Roland Garros win last year is still fresh in my memory, so I try to use that as an inspiration to kick-start the clay-court season [in the] best possible way.

“I understand that I probably won't be at my best at the beginning of this week. I am still testing my engine, so to say, and building my game, so it will take obviously some time, some matches to really get in the groove and find the competitive play that I really need."

You May Also Like: Tsitsipas Back At ‘Home’ & Raring To Go In Monte-Carlo
Djokovic arrives at the third ATP Masters 1000 event of the season as the World No. 1, having reclaimed top spot on 21 March, after temporarily losing it to Daniil Medvedev for three weeks from 28 February.

The 34-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals in Dubai in February, knows that a deep run in Monte Carlo will maintain his position at the top of the sport.

“Being World No. 1 is the highest achievement that you can have in our sport, so I'll try to maintain that position as much as possible,” Djokovic said.

Top seed lifted the trophy in Monte Carlo in 2013 and 2015
Top seed Novak Djokovic feels that he is fully motivated and ready to test himself against the world's best players once again as he prepares to play at his second tour-level event of the season at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters this week.

“I still feel motivated to be on the Tour and compete with young guys and try to challenge the best players in the world for the biggest titles,” Djokovic said in his pre-tournament press conference.

“I'm very pleased to be here and Monaco has been home for over ten years. I have been eagerly waiting for the moment when I will be out competing again, so this is the best place where I could possibly start.”

The Serbian will begin his clay-court campaign against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and is hoping he can take confidence from his strong results on the surface in 2021, when he clinched titles at Roland Garros and the Belgrade Open and advanced to the final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

“Clay court is the surface on which I grew up in Serbia and played many years only on that surface actually. Historically it hasn't been my most successful surface, but I have had some big success on clay. [The] Roland Garros win last year is still fresh in my memory, so I try to use that as an inspiration to kick-start the clay-court season [in the] best possible way.

“I understand that I probably won't be at my best at the beginning of this week. I am still testing my engine, so to say, and building my game, so it will take obviously some time, some matches to really get in the groove and find the competitive play that I really need."

You May Also Like: Tsitsipas Back At ‘Home’ & Raring To Go In Monte-Carlo
Djokovic arrives at the third ATP Masters 1000 event of the season as the World No. 1, having reclaimed top spot on 21 March, after temporarily losing it to Daniil Medvedev for three weeks from 28 February.

The 34-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals in Dubai in February, knows that a deep run in Monte Carlo will maintain his position at the top of the sport.

“Being World No. 1 is the highest achievement that you can have in our sport, so I'll try to maintain that position as much as possible,” Djokovic said.

World No. 1 tests football skills with Brazilian superstar
Novak Djokovic took a break from his preparations for the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Monday, but only to test his skills on the football pitch. To do so, he enlisted the help of a pair of fellow champions, Paris Saint-Germain superstars Neymar and Marco Verratti.

Djokovic joined in with a quick game of ‘keepie-uppies’ with the duo. The 20-time Grand Slam champion is a keen football fan and could have picked worse teammates on this occasion — Neymar is one of the most renowned names in world football and has scored 71 goals for Brazil’s national team, while Italy’s Verratti is known as one of Europe’s most skillful and tenacious midfielders.


Neymar and Verratti are two of the most high-profile stars from the top division of French football, Ligue 1. Paris Saint-Germain, based in the French capital, have won seven of the past nine league championships, with Neymar and Verratti spearheading their rise to one of the top clubs in Europe.

Wild card doubles pairing Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev also caught up with Neymar. Former World No. 1 doubles star Melo will hope the time spent with his countryman can inspire him to a 10th Masters 1000 title this week — the Brazilian has never lifted the trophy in Monte-Carlo. Meanwhile Zverev is seeking a maiden singles title at the only clay-court Masters 1000 event he is yet to win.

Djokovic is a four-time finalist in Monte-Carlo and kicks off his 2022 campaign against World No. 46 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round on Tuesday.