The head of the Saudi Arabian General Sports Authority has confirmed that grand slam champions Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will play against each other in an exhibition match later this year in Jeddah.
Turki Al-Sheikh revealed the news on his Twitter account Sunday evening. The King Salman Tennis Championship is set to take place on December 22nd. It will be the first time the two players have faced each other in Saudi Arabia. A country that has a population of over 32 million, but has no players with an official professional ranking in the world of tennis.
https://twitter.com/Turki_alalshikh/status/1049016504333815811
Details about the upcoming exhibition are limited at present. The match will take place at the King Abdullah Sports City. A multi-purpose stadium located north of Jeddah. The venue has hosted mainly football matches, but has also held boxing and WWE events. The most recent being the fight between Callum Smith and George Groves.
“Thanks for the invitation and looking forward to playing and visiting for the first time!” World No.1 Nadal wrote on Twitter.
Saudi sources have reported that the match will be broadcast on TV via KSA Sports and MBC. Although there is yet to be any official confirmation concerning this.
On the ATP World Tour, Djokovic has played Nadal 52 times. He leads their head-to-head 27-25 and has won eight of their 10 most recent meetings. It will be the first Exhibition meeting between the two since 2016 when they clashed in Milan, Italy.
Tickets for the upcoming event will be available at https://www.sauditickets.sa/ar,
