Mixed madness! Aryna Sabalenka practices with Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon

Tennis fans were fed by not one, but two star-studded crossover practice sessions in the days ahead of Wimbledon, as WTA world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka trained not only with her fellow top-ranked counterpart Jannik Sinner, but also with Novak Djokovic.

Monday saw No. 1 vs. No. 1 on the practice courts of Aorangi Park in London, as Sabalenka and Sinner went head-to-head in target practice.

The simple task—hit an empty ball can placed in no man's land between the baseline and service line on the other side—proved tougher that it looked for the reigning Australian Open champions. Sabalenka hit several shots long, while Sinner's patented baseline precision faltered. But in the end, she won out by trading power for finesse, and plunked the can with a backhand slice.

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To the victor goes the spoils, and Sabalenka's prize came at the expense of Sinner's team and coaches. They had to do a round of pushups after their man came in second-best.

When all the was said and done, the two players shared a smile as Sabalenka continued to revel in her victory.

"I hit with the best and then I am done,” she said in a message on Wimbledon's social media channels.

A day later, Sabalenka sparred with Djokovic in the same target challenge, and this time, a cash prize was on the line.

"A hundred bucks," Sabalenka declared in response to Djokovic upping the stakes for "extra motivation."

Neither left the session richer, though: Djokovic hit the target first, but Sabalenka got her revenge later.

"Give me my money!" Sabalenka joked after hitting the target herself. "Do you have cash?"

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The playful banter didn't stop there. According to *The Guardian* reporter Tumaini Carayol on X, formerly Twitter, Djokovic quipped about Sabalenka's famous grunt at some point during the practice.

"That [grunt] would be a hindrance on the ATP Tour," he reportedly joked, while Sabalenka, not missing a beat, retorted: "I thought we were friends?"

Sabalenka may have been referring to comments she made at the last Grand Slam, where she praised Djokovic’s longevity at age 38 and defended him despite middling results so far in 2025.

“You are trying to put as much pressure as you can on Novak. Leave him alone,” Sabalenka candidly said in a press conference in Paris. “Look at him. He's fit, strong. Mentally, physically, I think he's ready to play another two, three years. He's doing really well.

“Of course, [there are] ups and downs, everyone has [them]. I believe the older you get, the tougher it gets to stay consistent on the level. But we see whenever he's ready, whenever he's healthy and fit, he's there, and he's playing great tennis.”

Wimbledon begins on Monday.