Rafael Nadal to test his knee at the Hurlingham

Rafael Nadal is ready to play at the Hurlingham Club in London on Friday in an effort to test his fitness ahead of the start of Wimbledon.

The world No1 pulled out of Queen's last week after a long-standing knee injury flared up again as he was knocked out in the fourth round of the French Open.

Nadal said: "It would be a good test for me to play at the Hurlingham to see how the knee is doing and it would provide the perfect setting to get some practice before Wimbledon. If I feel the recuperation is going well I will be more than happy to be there again. I hope that's the case."

If he plays at Hurlingham, Nadal will face the Olympic doubles champion and world No19, Stanislas Wawrinka from Switzerland, who won a gold medal with Roger Federer at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Former women's world No1 Ana Ivanovic suffered the worst possible start to her preparations for Wimbledon when she was sent crashing out of the AEGON International at Eastbourne. The Serbian lost 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to seventh seeded Russian Nadia Petrova.

The only other seed in action was top seed Elena Dementieva, who had no trouble dispatching fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 6-4.