Future stars put on a show at The Boodles

Every grass court season leads to Wimbledon and since 2002, The Boodles exhibition has been a stop along the way. The week before the best players in the world make their way to the All England Club, some competitors make time for a five-day stint at Stoke Park.

In the past, London crowds have gotten to see many Top 10 players from Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to Andy Roddick and Goran Ivanisevic in action up close.

This year, the event’s biggest draws were future stars in world No. 12 Alexander Zverev and world No. 20 Nick Kyrgios (who would retire from his first round at Wimbledon with a hip injury). Other youngsters included Thanasi Kokkinakis, on his comeback from injuries, and Canada's Denis Shapovalov.

There was plenty of fun tennis from the veterans too. Just look at this display by Benoit Paire and Roberto Bautista Agut:

Zverev, who is the youngest player in the Top 20, was at the center of a lot of the action in more ways than one. The German hit some terrific shots like this:

While also showing, in a lighthearted way, that he was not the biggest fan of Stoke Park’s seagulls.

Zverev was also receiving serve during one of the more awkward moments of the week against Kokkinakis, when the Australian hit a serve that slammed into a ballgirl.

Although the results don’t count toward anyone’s rankings and the matches are often decided by a tiebreak in lieu of the third set, it was quality practice. Kyrgios (over Viktor Troicki and Philipp Kohlschreiber), Kokkinakis (over Gilles Simon and Damir Dzumhur) and Jan-Lennard Struff (over Paire and Bautista Agut) were the three players who earned multiple wins.

By week's end, all of the competitors did their part training, entertaining and earning a new fan:

Follow Andrew on Twitter: @andrewikesports

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