Djokovic will return to Queen's after an eight-year hiatus as the former world number one begins his grass court season

Novak Djokovic has been handed a wildcard into next week's Fever-Tree Championships at Queen's Club.

The 12-time grand slam champion was initially non-committal on when his grass-court season would start after he suffered a surprise defeat to Marco Cecchinato in the French Open quarter-final last week.

However the Serbian, who has been suffering from an elbow injury, will now play at Queen's Club for the first time in eight years.

The 31-year-old admitted that the tournament would be "a great preparation for Wimbledon" with the SW19 event starting on July 2.

Djokovic said: "I am very excited to be playing the Fever-Tree Championships again.

"The atmosphere is always great and I am looking forward to playing in front of the British crowd again.

"Grass is very special, it is the rarest of surfaces so I'm happy I'll have the opportunity to compete at this strong tournament, which will also be a great preparation for Wimbledon."

Tournament organisers are still waiting to hear whether Andy Murray will play.

The Scot is due to make a decision this week on whether he has made a sufficient recovery from a hip injury which has kept him out since last year's Wimbledon.

Djokovic joins a strong line-up at the London event, with French Open champion Rafael Nadal, Grigor Dimitrov, Juan Martin del Potro, David Goffin, Kyle Edmund and Stan Wawrinka all due to play.