Djokovic to lead charge in inaugural 2020 Adelaide Worldwide

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic and Australia's Alex de Minaur have started their 2020 campaign with a smile. These two have already clinched their spots in the semi-finals of the inaugural ATP Cup, currently ongoing in Australia. In the coming weeks, the pair will play together in yet another inaugural competition: Adelaide Worldwide.

Current World No. 2 Djokovic has enjoyed success on Australian turf. During the previous season, the Serbian became the first man to emerge victorious and claim seven titles at the season's first major. 13 years ago, Djokovic first visited Adelaide to take part in the Next Generation Adelaide International. He eventually claimed the third of his 77 tour-level titles after securing a win against Chris Guccione in the tournament's final.

On the other hand, De Minaur will participate in Adelaide Worldwide as Australia's No. 1 representative. He has successfully climbed to his career-high No. 18 FedEx ATP Rating after securing three profitable ATP Tour titles last year. His maiden title came last January, after winning the Sydney Worldwide in his hometown on the eve of the Australian Open.

The combined ATP and WTA tournament will also feature some of the next generation ATP stars like Felix Auger-Aliassime, Andrey Rublev, Taylor Fritz, and Great Britain's Daniel Evans. Evans recently won against De Minaur in an ATP Cup quarter-final match. The final lasted three hours and 24 minutes.

In the meantime, it has already been announced that the Adelaide International Rally for Resilience, due on 12 January, will be aimed towards raising funds for the devastating bushfire relief.

Tournament Director Alistair MacDonald said, "The night will feature support from the WTA and ATP Tours, Tennis Australia, Tennis SA, the Roger Rasheed Sports Foundation and Australian Tennis Foundation and the players to raise money to help those communities affected. We encourage South Australians to get behind this initiative and we will continue to support the Aces for Bushfire Relief program operating throughout the summer of tennis."

The Australian bushfires have been devastating the country since September. So far, it has killed at least 25 people. Over 2,000 houses have been already destroyed and the animal death toll is projected to be around the 1-billion mark.