Novak Djokovic vs Grigor Dimitrov exhibition in Bulgaria sells out full house in 8 minutes; black market sales see 3x surge in ticket prices

Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov will be playing an exhibition match in Sofia, Bulgaria, on September 17. Tickets for the highly anticipated encounter sold out in just eight minutes. Moreover, resale prices in the black market skyrocketed to triple the original ticket cost.

The Grigor Dimitrov Foundation will host an exhibition match between the tennis stars of the Balkan countries. Serbia's Djokovic will take on Bulgaria's Dimitrov at the Arena Sofia in Bulgaria.

Reports suggest that 11,000 tickets were available for the exhibition match, out of which 80% were up for sale to the general public. The rest of the tickets were reserved for sponsors.

Tickets for the highly anticipated match were released on August 8 and were completely sold out within a mere eight minutes. Miroslav Emanuilov, the manager of the ticket sales platform, explained that the website experienced unprecedented traffic, resulting in many fans being unable to secure tickets despite trying to purchase them at the designated sale time.

Tickets sold out quickly even though each buyer was limited to eight. Further, reports suggest that the tickets were already being resold on the black market, with prices reaching twice to thrice their original value.

Notably, the match will be played soon after the conclusion of the US Open. Djokovic recently won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics and is going to skip the Cincinnati Open. Moreover, he is also skipping the Laver Cup, that will begin on September 20.

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Novak Djokovic asks Grigor Dimitrov about his Van Cleef bracelets collection

Grigor Dimitrov and Novak Djokovic at the Rolex Paris Masters. (Image: Getty)

Grigor Dimitrov is a fan of Van Cleef bracelets. During a Q&A session where multiple top ATP stars asked the Bulgarian some questions, Novak Djokovic asked him how many of those bracelets he had.

"All right Grigor, we know that you are a great fan of the Van Cleef bracelets. How many of those you got?" asked Djokovic.

Founded in 1896, Van Cleef is a luxury jewelry brand adorned by style icons and royalty alike. Dimitrov cheekily responded to Djokovic's question by saying:

"Novak, more than you can put on your wrist, man. I am a big fan of the Van Cleefs," Dimitrov replied.

Furthermore, the Serb revealed that his son Stefan also wanted to wear the bracelet, but Djokovic rejected his request.

"Oh, by the way, my son asked to get one and I said no you're not going to wear a Van Cleef bracelet at nine years old. He's like but then why Dimitrov is wearing?" said Djokovic.

"So just to let you know, you've been the talk of the house."

Earlier, in an interview with New York Magazine, Dimitrov had revealed that the Van Cleef bracelet had helped him prevent a serious injury. He wears the bracelet under his sweat wristbands during a match.