Novak Djokovic to partner long-time friend Carlos Gomez-Herrera in Mallorca doubles
Novak Djokovic will partner Spain's Carlos Gomez-Herrera in the doubles event at Mallorca this week. The inaugural ATP 250 tournament, one of the final events in the lead-up to Wimbledon, is scheduled to begin later on Saturday.
Carlos Gomez-Herrera achieved a career-high ATP doubles ranking of 257 last year. He and Novak Djokovic will face Bosnia's Tomislav Brkic and Serbia's Nikola Cacic in their opening-round match.
Djokovic will also take on veteran Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in an exhibition match before the tournament starts, to mark the inauguration of the Mallorca Country Club. The World No. 1 has only entered the doubles draw in Mallorca, and will not feature in singles action.
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Gomez-Herrera have been friends for nearly a decade
Carlos Gomez-Herrera met Novak Djokovic nearly a decade ago in Madrid, and has since become good friends with the Serb in the years since. The duo played doubles together at Dubai in 2014, but lost their first match to Tomasz Bednarek and Lukas Dlouhy in a third-set tiebreaker.
Last year, Carlos Gomez-Herrera expressed his support for Novak Djokovic's Player Relief Fund, which was meant to provide assistance to competitors ranked outside the top 100 who were most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gomez-Herrera had pointed out that Djokovic does a lot for the players behind the scenes, and that he takes into account their troubles and needs by speaking with them directly.
"Novak Djokovic is working for all of us," Gomez-Herrera had said. "He is very aware of the struggles and in all this confinement he has lived it first-hand. He has asked me for a lot of information."
"The one who helps the most is not the one who advertises it the most; the one who helps the most is the one who gets on and does it," the Spaniard had added. "He (Novak) is trying to help, but he does not receive unanimous support."
Gomez-Herrera had also praised the World No. 1 for staying grounded and not letting his success get to his head.
"It is a reflection that being number one and having the success you have is not worth believing that you are above others," Gomez-Herrera had said.