Djokovic and Nadal face off and dance in Kazakhstan

Published October 25, 2019

Exhibition season started early for Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. While Roger Federer is playing ATP tennis in Basel, his fellow Big Three members had a hit and giggle in Kazakhstan.

The one-day event was held at the 11,578-seat Barys Arena in Nur-Sultan (the nation's capital), and the idea was to expose the local youth to elite tennis. The match did just that with was Nadal winning, 6-3, 3-6, 11-9.

World No. 2 Nadal beats world No. 1 Djokovic in Kazakhstan exhibition

Before a ball was struck, Nadal got on the phone with former King of Spain Juan Carlos I, who spoke with the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev:

В этот момент Рафаэль Надаль позвонил бывшему Королю Испании и передал телефон Первому Президенту Казахстана. Таким образом, перед благотворительным теннисным матчем состоялся небольшой телефонный разговор Елбасы и Хуана Карлоса I pic.twitter.com/cn4zKepW92
— Aidos Ukibay (@Aidos_Ukibay) October 24, 2019

Djokovic was in the mood to dance (Nadal not so much...):

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cracked Racquets (@crackedracquets)

And they didn't forget to have a little fun with it:

💥 Retour réussi pour le jeune marié, #Nadal s’impose 6-3 3-6 11-9 contre #Djokovic lors de leur exhibition au Kazakhstan 🇰🇿

Les choses sérieuses vont commencer la semaine prochaine avec le #rolexparismasters puis les #NittoATPFinals en ligne de mire 💪pic.twitter.com/nNWVwgnKr1
— Game, Set & Talk (@GameSetAndTalk) October 24, 2019

The trip to Kazakstan may have come as a bit of a surprise to some given Nadal got married less than a week ago. Both will return to ATP action in Paris next week, where the chase for year-end No. 1 continues. Djokovic is just 320 points ahead of Nadal.