It's Rolls-Royces and rosé at Wimbledon dress rehearsal

World's best players are in action at the Hurlingham Club playing in the poshest event on Britain's sporting calendar

- FLO CLIFFORD

A fleet of Rolls-Royces lines the drive. Spectators in heels and hats walk under trellises of roses, past the orangery and members-only polo club, stopping to admire the wares of a handful of luxury sponsors. A peacock roams freely along perfectly manicured lawns. This is the Hurlingham Club, home of the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic, the most glamorous sporting event of the summer.

Tucked into a leafy corner of southwest London, Hurlingham is the final stop for many elite players before they travel a little further along the District line for the pinnacle of the grass-court swing. As an exhibition event it offers participants one last weekend of semi-serious competition, against players who they may well face over the next two weeks, albeit with much higher stakes.

Coming so close to Wimbledon, the Classic doesn’t really have the feel of an exhibition at all – the rose-sipping crowd aren’t treated to many trick shots or towsers. Instead, it feels like valuable match practice, a test run of Wimbledon itself, complete with all-white kit and utterly pristine grass.

That’s borne out by the names in action: Novak Djokovic headlines play on Friday, while top-tenners Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune and Ben Shelton all enter (Musetti later withdraws).